


The Race for your Heart

by QueenyClairey



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Accident, Alternate Universe - Car Racing, Alternate Universe - Formula One, Bad Parent Maryse Lightwood, Bad Parent Robert Lightwood, Bisexual Magnus Bane, Disaster, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Evil Asmodeus, F/M, Formula One, Gay Alec Lightwood, Insecure Alec Lightwood, M/M, Protective Alec Lightwood, Protective Magnus Bane, Racing, Slow Burn, Supportive Isabelle Lightwood, Underhill - Freeform, alec is a formula one driver, drivers, jace wayland is a formula one driver, magnus is a formula one driver, race drivers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-03-17 16:20:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18968836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenyClairey/pseuds/QueenyClairey
Summary: Alec Lightwood and Magnus Bane are bitter rivals. They drive for opposing teams and are fighting to be crowned top of the Driver's Championship.But when there is a terrible accident, Magnus is given a choice and walks away from the life he knows, suddenly thrusting them into an uneasy partnership.





	1. Great Britain: The accident

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go...another WIP, inspired by the pictures of Matt at the Indy 500 this weekend!
> 
> Hope you enjoy it! I'm thinking there might be a dozen chapters...as there are 21 races in a Grand Prix year and this begins at Race 10!
> 
> Comments and Kudos are appreciated and help me write faster ;-)

_Welcome to Silverstone, home of the British Grand Prix! We know you are really excited that homeboy, Jace Wayland is racing today. Already in third place in this year’s Driver’s World Championship in his first season, Jace could go all the way today in front of his home crowd. Most recently, he took pole position in France, his second win of the season so far. While his brother, Alec Lightwood is currently in the top spot, with Edom’s Magnus Bane in second, a win for Jace today could propel him up the leaderboard. Together, the brothers have made it pretty difficult to catch up with Idris in the Constructors Championship, although Jonathan Morgenstern has been clocking in a few points to help out Team Edom. His most recent win at the Monaco Grand Prix was a big shock for crowds, when he edged out Lightwood to take the final flag. Today should prove to be a thrilling race, taking us on an adventurous ride over 52 laps, with Wayland in pole position at the start. Have a great day, race fans and remember to tune in at 2pm for the chequered flag to drop!_

Alexander Lightwood stormed into his mother’s office, rattling the door as he slammed it open. 

“Care to explain why I’ve got seventeen messages from British F1 mag asking me for an interview about my rivalry with Jace, mother?” he growled, as he came to a halt in front of her desk. 

Maryse Lightwood continued to calmly sign the sheets in front of her, ignoring her eldest son. Gritting her teeth, she looked up to see the anger in his hazel eyes, turning them a fiery brown. She sighed.

“Alec, you know exactly why. So don’t ask stupid questions. If we are going to afford your sister’s new nose cone design, then we have to bring in the dollars somewhere.” She said calmly.

“Are you freaking kidding me? You guys and this team, are made of money, waging war between your sons is not acceptable, Mother. I refuse to do it. And Jace will too. It's bad enough that you encourage all the other petty rivalry and that every other driver in this sport thinks I'm stuck up and hates me, I will not allow you to ruin mine and Jace's relationship,”

Then he turned and marched away, already dressed in his fire suit, the Idris team logo in stark white on the middle of his black all-in-one and his name, Lightwood, in electric yellow. His number, 17, stood out in blood red, a reminder of why he was here.

Maryse sighed again, then picked up her phone, “Hodge? Alec’s in a bad mood again, I suggest you sort it out.”

Then she turned and continued to pick through the financial reports that she and Robert had been fighting over for the last month. She was going to have to disappoint one of her children today and she couldn’t bear it to be Isabelle after all her hard work. 

Alexander? He would have to bare being disappointed with his parents this time. She sighed again and ran her hand through her long, chestnut hair, why was she always having to upset one or another of them? Was this the life she had signed up for? She wished for a moment that they had never gotten into this business, but then remembered Max's happy face the first time he had raced and sighed, a tear threatening her lower lashes. But she was made of strong stuff and used to hiding everything away, so she ignored it and picked up her pen, circling and slashing at the report with bright green.

\------

Stomping into the driver’s room, he found Jace lounging on a long, blue sofa, rewatching yesterday’s Qualifying with Clary perched in his lap.

“What’s up with you?” he drawled as he watched his brother dump himself in an armchair, scowling.

“Bloody mother, thinking she can do what she pleases again, tell me you didn’t talk to F1 yet?”

“No. I wasn’t going to do that without you, bro. Look, whatever she just said, ignore it. You know how uptight she gets half way through the season. I mean, we already crashed 3 cars between us in practise, so she’ll still be chasing sponsors so Izzy can have the new designs she’s demanding.” He paused and stared over at Alec, waiting for him to look back. When he finally did, he gave him his trademark smile, “Big bro, you know they’re just under pressure like us. It’s just different pressure. Now us,” he said waving his hand between them, “We’ve gotta go out there and fuck with that bloody idiot Jonathan Morgenstern, cos he is pissing me off with his dangerous driving style this year. When he got between you and Magnus in Azerbaijan, man that was so freaking bad and we cannot let him do it again, we gotta talk strategy. I bet Bane is so fucking sick of driving with him.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Sorry for getting mad. Instead, I will direct all of my angry energy into the race and making sure one of us wins,” he smiled “So Clary, statistics? How are we doing, what do we need to do today?” he asked the redhead who turned to him with a huge grin and shining eyes.

“Now you’re talking my language, Alec!” she laughed, “So as you know, you’ve got 187 points at the moment which means….”

\------

An hour later, he and Jace were in the garage with Izzy, going through last minute problems and solutions, Hodge watching over them carefully from a safe distance. The team was a well-oiled machine after their first 9 races of the season, and although personnel sometimes changed, their sister and Hodge were the heart of the engineering team and they knew exactly what they were doing. 

New boy, Simon Lewis, was showing Alec some slight alterations they had made to his engine,

“So the carburetor is going to be slightly different this time, man, I had to bypass the manifold inverter and ensure there’s enough flow down the…” He trailed off, looking at Alec, whose eyes had started to glaze over, “Hey Alec, are you even listening to me?” he asked.

“Darling, Simon,” Isabelle interrupted, “It’s just, you’re using such big words my poor brother is having difficulty following, that’s why we’re in charge in here!” she leaned up and pressed an oily kiss to Alec’s cheek, startling him. 

“No, no, Iz. Whatever she said,” he continued, pointing at his sister, “Is not true, I’m just making sure I can remember corner 7 - it gave me trouble yesterday and I want to make sure it’s not going to be the place where Morgenstern makes his move,” Alec admitted, looking down at his sister whose cheeks were glowing with excitement, as they always did before a big race. 

He leaned over and hugged her tightly to him, “Iz, you’re the best. You trust Simon, so whatever you decided to do to the car...well I trust you. You know I understand, but I don’t think I have the space in my head at the moment. If I could get the win today, I’d have a good chance of pushing ahead of Magnus by enough that he’d need to win at least 6 more this season.”

“Oh brother, Magnus is not the one you need to be watching out for, it’s that idiot Morgenstern. There’s talk amongst the engineers that he’s been blowing up about his brother being stuck in Team Spiral Labyrinth and that he’s determined to oust Magnus to bring him in. I can’t imagine things are very rosy over at Edom today. He’s such a slimy thing, I hope he doesn’t come near me, I hate the way he stares,” she shivered and Simon slid a protective arm around her, pulling her close as if to chase away the spectre of Jonathan. 

“Don’t worry,” said Jace, headed over to them with Clary wrapped around him, “Alec and I are going to beat him today! I’m on home turf, no way I can’t do well! Team Idris have got this down!”

Everyone cheered loudly and Alec locked eyes with Jace, both full of determination. Then glanced at his siblings. They were both happily engaged and he had no-one. He allowed the thought for a second, and then thought of Max and brought his anger and resolve back to the surface, plastering a grin on his face.

\-----

Waiting to go up onto the track, Alec looked around him and allowed himself a second of sadness again. Hodge was chatting with one of the team cheerleaders, her eyes glowing with suggestion; Jace and Clary were wrapped up in each other in one corner, her explaining something and Jace nodding along; Izzy and Simon were making last minute touches to the car, Simon beaming at her, his smile making him even more attractive. And Alec? He had his noise cancelling headphones on, mentally running through the track, focusing on every turn he knew he would need to take, mind whirring. 

He had to admit that seeing his siblings and friends paired up did make him long for someone to share this with, but he also knew it would be a huge distraction, one he could ill afford at this point in the season. 

His musing was interrupted when everyone began to stand. His father had arrived.

\-----

Robert and Maryse Lightwood entered the garage, eyes flicking over the people gathered there. Robert caught and held Alec’s gaze for a few seconds, then nodded, before moving on to look at Jace.

After his sweep, he stood tall and addressed the group, “Today is a very important day for Team Idris, and particularly for my son, Jace Wayland! The British Grand Prix was the first place he caught the racing bug, and in this, his first season, all eyes are on him today as the crowd pray for a British winner. Support him today, make sure he has the best chance to make it to the top of the podium and let’s make Britain, and Team Idris, Proud!”

Everyone roared their agreement, before Alec’s eyes met Jace’s. They were full of apologies, but Alec waved it away. His father was still angry about Monaco and he had every right to be. Hell, it might have been four races ago, but he still hadn’t forgiven himself for letting Jonathan Morgenstern slip past him in the final strait, relegating Jace to fourth place and loosing Idris valuable Constructor’s points.

Suddenly the claxon sounded and it was time to move out to the track.

\-----

The noise was enormous. Alec had never been so glad to be wearing his comms set and to have his hood tucked over his head, keeping it down. The British crowd certainly knew how to party, the colourful flags waving all across the grounds. He even saw a few gay and bisexual pride flags, which made him grin briefly, aware they were for him, Magnus and Meliorn (who was team Seelie's top driver). 

Bumping into Magnus Bane, pre-race, was not on the list of things he had wanted to do. They had been bitter rivals from their very first race last season. Alec had been new to the circuit and his enthusiasm had waned quickly when he realised that most of the driver's had no interest in getting to know him, only in analysing his statistics and speading nasty rumours to the press. He has been burnt during the last year and now he kept away from the other's on the tour, protecting himself the little he could. Coming third in the Driver's Championship during his opening year had made him a target, and now he was already leading it this year, the other's weren't very generous towards him.

But today, Magnus was third on the grid, so he should have expected to see him up close, however, he hadn’t mentally prepared. 

He stared hungrily at him. He had yet to pull up his hood, and his sharp cheekbones were sparkling with a line of highlighter; eyes deeply rimmed in kohl. Alec couldn’t rip his eyes away even though he knew it was dangerous to look this close to a race. He let his eyes drop to rest on the skintight suit where it wrapped around Magnus' curves, then quickly looked away before he could be caught, thoughts whirling.

Suddenly Magnus turned and spotted him. 

“Alexander, a pleasure,” he mouthed, eyes trailing over Alec’s face, mouth quirked in a grin, aware that Alec would not be able to hear him over his teams instructions through his earpieces. Immediately, Alec felt a hot blush colour his cheeks and he shot Magnus a disgruntled look before turning back to Hodge and Izzy and his car. He frowned, why did that man have to have that effect on him? 

Listening to the final instructions, but still feeling a little unsettled, he walked over to Jace for their pre-race ritual.

First they bumped fists, followed by a complicated and intricate handshake they had mastered at the age of 10, then Jace pulled him in for a hug before whooping over the comms, “Team Idris, ready?”

“Ready!” Alec replied with a soft smile for his brother’s enthusiasm.

Everyone else answered in the affirmative, and then they separated, headed to their cars to prepare. He gave himself one last chance to look at Magnus, who was now bent over, just his luck! His eyes widened at the sight and then he caught himself, turning away.

But as Alec wandered back, his eyes strayed over to the man in fourth position, leaning against his car, an arrogant expression on his face, shock of ginger hair swept to one side in the British wind. 

Jonathan Morgenstern spotted him looking and gave him a filthy glare. It sent shivers down his spine and he froze minutely before striding onwards to his car, turning back to watch as Morgenstern turned to direct his glare at Jace.

“Better watch out for JM everyone,” Alec said into his mouthpiece, “He is looking furious today,”

“Will do Alec,” Jace replied, “Watch your six, love you bro!”

“You better watch your six, bro, cos i'll be the one on it! Love you too,” Alec replied and then settled into his car, hands on the steering wheel, as he prepared to race.

\------

Laps 1-30 were fine, Alec came in at the right time for his pit stop and managed to edge passed Magnus, who had swiped past him on corner bloody seven during lap 9 and had led him since. But no one seemed able to catch Jace. He was flying through the laps, making only one pit stop for fuel and new tires. 

The messages over his comms told him that Magnus was sticking in third and that Morgenstern had tried to get past him at least 5 times, but Magnus had held firm and stayed ahead. 

Alec was glad, he was pleased that he wasn’t having to deal with JM on his tail right now, not when his brother was doing so well and making such an amazing showing. He was over 5 seconds ahead of Alec, and the team strategy was for Alec to protect him into first.

Alec was so pleased for his brother, that, knowing Magnus had lost precious seconds when his fuel pipe had gotten stuck on his pit stop, he decided to let him have a bigger lead and leisurely slowed his pace so Jace was over 10 seconds ahead.

Lap 48 quickly flew past and they were into the final three.

And that’s when it happened. The message over his radio was delivered calmly so as not to scare him.

“Jace has crashed,” came Hodge’s calm voice, “Don’t worry, they’re already with him. Please keep going. Your father still wants first place. I’ll update you, Alec.”

It was not the first time either Jace or Alec had had an accident during a race. But it was the first time it had happened while they were both on the track during a Grand Prix, and Alec felt his concentration slipping. 

But he couldn’t let it. He was travelling over 300km/h and he was in charge of a deadly machine. A seconds lapse in judgement and he would be joining Jace on the sidelines and possibly hurting himself too. 

So he stayed on task for the last 3 laps. But when he took the chequered flag, there was no celebration. He slowed as quickly as was possible and headed straight back to the Idris garage, lapping a couple of the other drivers in his eagerness to get there.

Pulling up with a screech, he leapt from his car and rushed inside, pulling off his hood and quickly taking out his earpiece.

“What the hell happened?” he yelled to the few staff in the garage, but none of them replied, merely pointed up towards the offices where he could see Robert standing, glowering down at him.

\------  
He hesitated before he ran upstairs. What if Jace was dead? 

He slapped his own cheek, trying to pull himself out of his daze. He couldn’t think about that. Thoughts like that would kill him. Superstitions flitted through his head and he thought of Max then, sadness rolling through him. 

No! Alec, snap out of it, he told himself. Jace. You need to go find out about Jace.

As he entered his father’s office, breathing heavily, he saw Izzy curled on the couch in Simon’s arms. She saw him and jumped up, launching herself at him. 

As he caught her, he looked over at his father, “What happened? Is he okay?”

Robert took a deep breath before he spoke.

“Well, he’s fucked up his ankle in more than one place. He has some kind of concussions from where he hit the wall, and they think there’s some damage to his shoulder. So, yes he’s alive. But he has fucked up our chances this year!”

Robert was calm the whole way through his speech, until the end, when he slammed his fist down on the desk, making his computer screen wobble. 

“Dad!” Alec yelled, staring at him in shock, “How can you say that! God, he could have died, the speed he was going at. Have some compassion. What happened?”

This time Izzy answered him, Robert choosing instead to sink into his desk chair and start clattering away on his keyboard, ignoring Alec’s outburst.

“It was corner seven, Alec. You said yourself it was the trickiest one. I’m waiting for the car to come in now so I can check it out. Jace was pretty out of it, but he insisted on asking if you won before they carted him off to the hospital. He said, it felt like something went wrong in the hydraulics. So Simon and I will start to look as soon as they release the car to me. There’ll be an independent adjudicator coming in too, so we’ll need Hodge. So Raj will come with you to the podium.”

“I’m not going on the podium. I’m going to the hospital,” Alec replied calmly.

“The fuck you are Alec!” Robert roared then, leaping back to his feet. “You are going to fucking stand on that fucking podium and smile for the fucking cameras. Our sponsors need to know we’re standing strong or we are not going to have any fucking left!”

Alec stared at his dad in horror. 

“You cannot expect me to celebrate when Jace is injured and lying in some hospital bed somewhere. I won’t do it.”

“You bloody well will!” Robert said, icily calm this time. “You don’t have a fucking choice. Go on. Your mother’s waiting for you.”

“She isn’t with Jace?!” Alec exclaimed in shock. “What the hell?”

“Clary is with Jace,” Izzy replied a sad frown on her face. The she pushed Alec to the door and through it, stepping in front and pulling him with her, Simon trailing behind.

“Something’s going on Alec. Something we know nothing about. You’re in first place, Idris is leading in the Constructors championship, but mum and dad are keeping secrets. Something’s happening that we have no control over and we have to stay calm and do what they ask so we can work it out.”

“But Jace…” Alec spluttered, staring at her as they reached the garage.

“Will still be in the hospital in an hour and is in no immediate danger,” said his mother, stepping over to him. 

“God Mom! Why aren’t you with him?”

“Because my priority has to be our top driver - you! And our sponsors. Now come on, we’ve waited long enough, Bane and Morgenstern will be waiting for you,”

\-----

Stepping on to the podium to the roar of the crowd, Alec was still in a daze. He couldn’t raise even the smallest smile, his thoughts still on his injured brother. When he was handed his flowers and champagne, he passed them back to his mother, not even bothering to open it.

Beside him, Jonathan Morgenstern was smiling. But it didn’t reach his eyes. He was like some kind of demonic doll, terrifying and blank. He had sprayed his champagne towards the crowd, but was now guzzling it down before passing it back to his twin brother Sebastian who was a few paces behind, the Sprial Labyrinth logo on his shirt, bright blonde hair reflecting the sun. He also wore a triumphant, yet blank, expression. 

On his left, stood Magnus, hair spiked upwards into a fauxhawk, blue streaks through the top and make up freshly applied. Alec stared down at him, eyes wandering but not really seeing.

“How’s Jace?” Magnus suddenly asked, leaning near to be heard over the roar of the crowd.

Alec started, blinking as he stared at Magnus who was much closer than he had been before. So close, Alec could smell traces of sandalwood above the artificial sweetness of popcorn from the crowd.

“Oh...busted up. I don’t know really. I need to go see him.” he stuttered out, eyes locking with Magnus’, “Thanks for asking.”

“Of course,” Magnus replied, voice velvety smooth, “I care. He’s an excellent driver and a good person. Maybe a little obnoxious and big-headed at times, but I like him.”

“Oh,” Alec said again, “I didn’t know you guys really knew each other?” 

“We’ve played pool a few times, at The Hunter’s Moon. You never come though?” Magnus said, his own eyes looking down at Alec’s mouth.

“No...I...I’m not much for partying,” Alec admitted, unable to look away.

“Well,” Magnus began, Alec leaning slightly closer, eager to hear what he had to say. Before they were rudely interrupted.

“Magnus!” Asmodeus yelled, hand clamping down on his shoulder, making Magnus wince slightly, “Shall we? Team briefing now!”

“Yes father,” Magnus said, gritting his teeth. Then he turned to Alec, “See you later, Alexander, my best to Jace,”

Alec stared after him. Hearing Magnus’ silky voice say his name...that might be something he obsessed over later when he was alone…

\-----

Asmodeus pulled Magnus back to the garage, never letting go.

“That boy,” he snarled, once they were alone, “That boy, is the enemy, Magnus. I do not want to see you out there flirting with him and playing your little games. It’s bad enough you sour our family name with your little dalliances. I do not want to hear you have anything to do with a Lightwood!”

“But father,” Magnus began, ready to hold his own.

“Do not, but father me! You are not fit to call me father! Only second place today? You haven’t taken pole since Spain! I am beginning to run out of patience…” he growled.

“I can’t help it if he’s faster,” Magnus said, staring icily at Asmodeus, “Anyway, I was just checking if he knew how Jace was. That crash was awful, he could have died…”

“A shame he didn’t!” laughed his dad, staring down at him, “Had he died, you would have a better chance of winning!”

“Father that’s a horrible thing to say! You disgust me!”

Suddenly there was a maniacal laugh echoing around the garage, but it wasn’t coming from his father.

Jonathan Morgenstern stepped out of the shadows nearby and came to stand at Asmodeus’ right shoulder, “Oh Magnus, little, pretty, darling Magnus. You have so much to learn.” he said, face twisted in a smirk. “If we had managed to get rid of that boy, my brother and I would have leapt up the standings, but no he only broke his goddamn leg. I imagine he’ll be back soon. They’ll only need a replacement for a short while. But at least Edom will have time to catch up with Idris in the Constructors Championship while he’s out.”

“Exactly,” Asmodeus said, growling at Magnus, “And you and Jonathan can sort out Lightwood, I’m sure he’ll be very distracted by his brother’s accident, after all it’s not the first time one of his brother’s has been injured taking part in this sport. I’m sure it’s a lovely little reminder of Max. He should be pretty easy to beat in Germany, especially if we plant the seeds of doubt.”

Magnus stared in horror at the pair of them. “No!” he said firmly, “I will not allow you to torture the poor man. He’s been through enough. You can’t do this.”

“Oh yes we can…” Jonathan sing-songed, mad eyes staring at Magnus, “And if you don’t want to take part…” he slammed his fist into his hand. Asmodeus laughing beside him.

“Fine.” Magnus said, watching as his father’s face lifted into a smirk, “You win….”

“Ah, my dear boy, you’ve made the right decision! I’m so pleased to hear it,” Asmodeus began, offering his son a small, triumphant smile.

“Yes I have,” Magnus interrupted with determination, “I’m contacting Ragnor, because I quit!”

“Nooooo!” Roared Asmodeus, reaching out for him, but he was too slow. Magnus stormed away, exiting the garage and jumping on to his Ducati. Before he slammed on his helmet, he gave the pair of them one last disgusted look, then roared away.

\------

At the hospital, Alec huddled next to Jace’s bed, holding his good hand and whispering to him. 

Jace was asleep. He had been for hours. The swelling on his brain had thankfully gone down and he had had an operation to place pins in his shattered ankle. His arm was battered but only had a clean break and his ribs were bruised, not broken. For a 300km/h crash, he was doing pretty well.

But for Alec it had brought back his worst memories, his worst nightmares and he could barely keep it together. He had been so grateful for Magnus’ distraction at the podium as even his own mother had shown no sympathy, merely telling him that he was an athlete and he needed to keep it together.

Arriving at the hospital, he had been horrified by the bruises criss-crossing Jace’s face and Clary’s enthusiastic hug, when they weren’t really that close, had spoken volumes. Isabelle had had to stay at the garage for the car, so he had come alone, his mother saying she had too much to do in the wake of the accident.

He knew that they would be frantically test driving Underhill, their reserve driver to see how he did in Izzy’s improved car. But he couldn’t even think about that right now, not when his brother was in so much pain.

Clutching Jace’s hand as tightly as he dared, he bent his head to the bedsheets and let the tears he had been holding in, trickle out onto them. 

“God Jace, what have you done to me, I can’t handle you getting hurt like this. You’re my brother. I love you. Don’t leave me.” he said, smothering his words in the bed.

Suddenly, the door opened and a nurse came in.

“Sorry to bother you sir, but I need to check his vitals, why don’t you wait in the canteen, you could go get a coffee?”

\------

Robert Lightwood paced his office angrily. His shoes squeaked with every step and he wanted to rip them off his feet. Why couldn’t anything go right? It was one piece of bad news after another at the moment. He couldn’t catch a break and it was starting to make him an angry, bitter man. He knew his children were beginning to hate him and he couldn’t bare it. He was not a bad person, he was a victim of the circumstances he had found himself in.

Thinking back on the phonecall he had just received from Idris HQ he frowned. The Clave were making pretty big demands of his team and he was starting to realise it was going to be very hard to meet them all when he was now one driver down. Their reserve driver was okay, but he wasn't Jace! He couldn’t partner Alec like Jace could and he simply didn’t have the experience he needed half-way through a season.

What the fuck was he going to do?

Suddenly, he was interrupted by a phonecall.

“Robert Lightwood speaking…..ah Ragnor Fell, how can I help you?....oh really? That _is_ interesting news. I will need to speak with my wife before I accept….yes, I’ll call you back soon…”

Smiling as he put down the receiver, he thanked the lord that finally something was going right!


	2. Germany: Kisses and Truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys are in Germany for race number 11.
> 
> A terrible time for Alec!

_Welcome to Hockenheim, home of the German Grand Prix! We know that the events at Silverstone left everyone feeling sad, but we have had news that Jace Wayland is recovering steadily from his injuries with his fiancee by his side. Unfortunately, he won’t be here to cheer on his brother, current leader, Alec Lightwood, however I’m sure he’s watching the race from London. We are still awaiting news on how the accident happened, as Team Idris have yet to release their initial findings. Of course, more recent shock news was the move by Edom’s Magnus Bane to take Jace’s place on the Idris team. This surprising development was announced just a week ago and, despite interviews you may have read, insiders say that Asmodeus Bane was not impressed with his son’s rash decision. However, one person has benefitted from the move and that’s ex-Spiral Labyrinth driver, Sebastian Morgenstern who now joins Team Edom alongside brother, Jonathan. Today should prove to be a thrilling practise session, as we all prepare for Qualifying tomorrow. Remember that since Garroway’s retirement at the end of last season, we now have last years 2nd and 3rd place drivers both taking on the track for Team Idris - this should be a hell of a ride! Have a great day, race fans and remember to tune in at tomorrow at 2pm for the chequered flag to drop!_

It had been a whole week since Magnus had been announced as the new driver at Team Idris, yet Alec had not seen him once. Izzy and Simon had been cooped up trying to disentangle pieces of Jace’s car; his mother and father were trapped in endless meetings with The Clave (their biggest financial backer); Jace and Clary were stuck in London as he was definitely not able to travel; and Alec, well Alec was stuck in his head, reliving the crash over and over again.

He had watched the video and still could not work out how Jace had got it so wrong. Despite his worry about Corner 7, he knew that Jace was not at fault for the accident - his driving skills were beyond the level needed to complete the turn and he had not made any clear mistakes that Alec could spot. Even the recordings had not helped Alec to figure it out, Jace had reported no problems before the car had suddenly swerved and the onboard computer data was proving really unhelpful. 

Hodge had sat with him and run through the events, and still Alec was trapped in the never ending cycle - Jace did nothing wrong, but the car swerved so something was wrong, but Izzy couldn’t find a problem with the car, which means Jace must have made a mistake, but the data didn’t support that. Oh god! His head was swirling just thinking about it.

Stepping away from his laptop, he crossed the hotel room to the mini-fridge and poured himself a refill of his orange juice. It was the day of practise 2 and 3, so he couldn’t have a stiffer drink, which he would definitely prefer. 

His anger about Jace’s accident, had now morphed into anger about Magnus being appointed without anyone speaking to him. Sure, Magnus was an excellent driver and would be brilliant for Idris, but how well did they know him? What if he was coming over to sabotage their chances and spy for Asmodeus? 

To say that Alec really hated Asmodeus Bane was an understatement. He had tried, at the start of Alec’s career to urge him over to Team Edom, and when it hadn’t worked had thrown insults about his parents and then, even worse, started talking about Max. Alec had snapped and yelled at him and Robert had told him off. It had been humiliating and heartbreaking and he had been unable to go near him since or even look at his smarmy face without feeling disgust. 

It was part of the reason why he had never tried to form a friendship with Magnus, despite everyone saying he was perfectly pleasant and friendly and that they would get on well. That, and the fact that from the moment they had met as gangly thirteen year olds, Alec had been completely and utterly head over heels for him. 

He hadn’t even known what being gay was at 13, sure he’d heard rumours in the playground, but he certainly hadn’t labelled himself as such. So his crush was intense and unacknowledged. It wasn’t until Isabelle, when he was 16, had helped him to realise his true feelings about girls and boys, that he had understood his feelings for Magnus. That had been a little over 3 years ago, and he still didn’t feel comfortable with him, despite being out and proud to the world.

Alec huffed angrily as he flopped back on his bed and opened his last text from Jace. It was a cross-eyed smiley face and a message ‘I won’t say Good luck because you’re a genius and you don’t need it! Just go out there and race for us both, brother! Love you!’

He was closing the message with a swipe of his thumb, just as his phone began to ring, which meant he accidentally answered it without seeing who was calling.

“Umm, hello?” he asked, hesitantly.

“Alexander? Is that you?” a voice said, the line crackling a little.

“It’s Alec, yes, who’s this?”

“Oh, Alexander, good, it’s Magnus. I thought, seen as we have at least 20 minutes before we need to head to the track, we should finally get to see each other in person. It feels so rude that we’ve been kept apart this long and right before a race too,” Magnus said, his voice just as silky on the phone as it was in real life.

Alec felt a shiver run down his spine just listening to his voice. What would it be like when it was just the two of them talking, alone?

“Umm, I don’t think we need to,” Alec said, trying not to sound too serious or too sad. “Let’s just meet at the track,”

“I feel like that’s not so wise, Alexander,” Magnus replied, “Why don’t I just pop along to your room so we can have a really quick chat? It will make things easier later on,”

“You can’t!” Alec said, panicking, “I’m ummm, I’m naked, I just got out of the shower, so you can’t right now,”

“Shame, Alexander, you could have waited for me and I would have washed your back for you,” Magnus laughed, his voice an octave lower, “Or maybe, I could have helped you tame that unruly mop you call hair?”

“It’s fine. I’m fine. Look can we just meet for the car to the track and talk then Magnus? I don’t want to inconvenience you, I’m sure you have other things to be doing,” Alec rushed out, cheeks flushing.

“Well,” Magnus drawled, voice making Alec’s toes curl, “Of course there are other things I could be doing, Alexander... you for one thing…” he paused as though listening for Alec’s panting breath, which he was desperately trying to control, then continued, a lighter tone to his voice now, “But I guess if you insist, I won’t come to room 213 to see you and help you get ready and we can...just meet in the car!”

Alec let out a big pant of breath in one whoosh, but before he could reply, he heard the dial tone as Magnus hung up. That man would be the death of him, he was sure. He quickly pressed his contacts to add Magnus’ number so he would be prepared the next time.

Oh who was he kidding? He would never be prepared for Magnus Bane.

\----

He did eventually meet Magnus at the car, who offered out his hand for Alec to shake. Their fingers barely touched though, before Alec pulled away, afraid of how he would react if their hands were together too long. He couldn’t help looking at Magnus though and approved thoroughly of what he saw. 

While he was wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans (which were easy to change for his fire suit on arrival at the track, Magnus was dressed to the nines. His hair was beautifully styled, which was a shame as it would soon be squashed by his helmet, his make-up impeccable, silver and black lines under his lashes - Idris colours. His shirt was a long tunic, bright blue with at least five necklaces draped over it and soft pants and slippers completed his look. 

Alec really couldn’t help staring. He looked gorgeous.

“Like what you see, Alexander?” Inquired Magnus, a hint of a smirk tugging at his mouth.

Luckily, he was saved from his no doubt stumbling, awkward reply, by Hodge who appeared then and indicated for them to get in, before he jumped into the front and started to talk to them about the circuit and the cars.

They spent the 20 minute ride listening to Hodge, both of them interjecting at times to offer their thoughts and opinions. It was thrilling to hear Magnus talk so much up close (Alec may have secretly watched a lot of his post-race interviews online). He was clearly very intelligent and just as enamoured with racing as Alec. He could imagine their private conversations away from the track being rich discussions too and he hoped that, as long as his suspicions were wrong, they could form a relationship…a friendship, he reminded his fast beating heart, sneaking a glance to see Magnus already looking back.

When they arrived and had passed through security, he was not surprised to be greeted by Isabelle and Simon first before his parents; but he was surprised when Izzy threw her arms around Magnus and he returned the hug with joy.

“Izzy, it’s been too long,” Magnus said, voice happy and light, not at all like the voice that he had used when he had told Alec that he would like to rinse his back...and Alec needed to forget about that right now because…

“Alec, are you feeling sick? Your cheeks are going bright red,” said Simon as they high-fived hello.

“No, I’m fine,” Alec replied, trying to sound perfectly normal, “Just a little hot, it’s Germany in June...it’s hot.”

“Oh, okay little brother,” Izzy laughed, coming over for a hug, “Don’t worry,” she whispered in his ear, “I know just how hot you find him, Germany in June indeed, you sound like some elderly British guy!”

They drew apart and he gave her a small frown before she dragged him over to the cars, eyes lighting up.

“So, good news! Magnus, I managed to rebuild to your specs, all legal, so you have basically got your car from Edom but obviously Izzified...which means it’s way better! You are going to love it! I’m so sorry it wasn’t ready when you practised yesterday with Hodge.”

“You practised yesterday?” Alec couldn’t help the sharpness of his voice, as he had not seen Magnus at the track at all and Isabelle hadn’t mentioned he had been by.

“Oh, yeah, well I requested a private track time because it was my first one...not with Edom...I was just a little worried, so I didn’t want anyone there.” Magnus explained, cheeks heating up slightly.

“Oh, of course, I get it,” Alec said, but he didn’t really. Yes privacy would be nice, but their sport didn’t allow for it often, so he was pretty jealous. You just had to get in and drive. He had certainly never been given any private track time, not even last year in America when he’d had to race on the track where...okay don’t follow that thought Alec he reminded himself...don’t go there.

He was quickly distracted by Izzy’s excited shrieks as she showed him her new nose cone design, which had finally been installed on his car. It had been in Izzy’s sketchbook since her first week as Lead Engineer at Idris and she had waited patiently for the money to come through to build it. Now that it was here, he felt obligated to show lots of enthusiasm.

He really thought he had been doing a good job, but clearly not great enough, as Izzy stopped her shrieking and stared at him. “What’s with you today? There are exciting things to celebrate, so please, help me celebrate,”

He tried...he tried so hard...but he could tell she was still unimpressed, so after the briefest amount of time he could get away with, he excused himself to head upstairs and get the inevitable disagreement with his parents over so he could relax before hitting the track.

Magnus gave him a soft smile as he turned to leave, understanding in his beautiful golden brown eyes. Alec tried to smile back, he did, but a quirk of his lips was all he could manage and he saw Magnus’ disappointment, a reflection of his own.

\----

There was no fight with his parents. 

When he entered the office, he was greeted by Maryse, who pulled him in by his hand and smiled brightly before gesturing to the man on the couch in front of her.

He was stuffy looking, his shirt collar buttoned tightly on his thick, red, neck, jacket snug over his shoulders.

“This is Alec Lightwood, current Championship Leader,” his mother said, gripping his hand as she pulled him over to the sofa. “And Alec, this is Valentine Herondale, head of The Clave, our most illustrious supporters.”

Alec managed a weak smile as he shook the man’s hand, eyeing him carefully.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Alexander, I’ve heard so much about you,” Valentine said, his voice was deep and intense and his eyes bored into Alec’s, sharp and unpleasant.

“Alec, please,” he replied, “Alexander’s for when mother is mad at me!” 

“Of course, Alec. So you’re in the lead right now, that last win was impressive, especially as you knew your brother had been hurt. Must have been a shock for you, right?” he asked as he continued to stare at Alec, who shifted uncomfortably where he stood.

“It was.” He said honestly, unwilling to say anymore to this stranger. 

His mother gave him a sharp glare and spoke for him, “Alec has been very pleased with all the new modifications you’ve been generous enough to fund for his car.” Maryse smiled, trying to save the situation.

“Ah yes, I heard you’re trying out your sister’s new nose cone today? Isn’t that right?”

“I plan to, yes. If the practise goes well, I’ll race with it. She thinks it should save me 0.025 of a second per lap.”

“Impressive,” Valentine said, suddenly standing up. And, despite only coming to just beyond Alec’s shoulder, seeming to fill the room with his intimidating presence. “Maryse, if you would, I’d like to speak with young Alec alone for a minute,”

“Oh,” she said, clearly surprised. Alec was too and he turned to look at her, begging with his eyes for her to stay and not leave him alone with him.

But his mother relented and said she would go check on Izzy’s progress and see how Magnus liked his new car.

Alec watched her go, not turning to face Valentine until he began speaking again. 

“So, Alec, you’re what, 20, 21?”

“I’m 19,” he replied, eyes dancing around to avoid looking into Valentine’s cruel ones.

“Right, so last year you came third and this year, you plan to win?”

“Of course, that’s the whole point of competing, sir,” he replied politely, edging a little towards the door and to the window where he could look down on the garage below. 

“Well, today I have a challenge for you, Alec. It’s not negotiable. It’s something you must do, otherwise I plan to withdraw my support from the company,”

Alec gasped as Valentine finished, “What?” he said, voice sharper than before.

“Oh don’t worry, nothing that bad,” Valentine drawled, “I’m not into that. Don’t be so disgusting,” he said, baring his teeth.

Alec let his shoulders relax slightly, taking a deep, but shaky breath. “What?” he repeated, turning to stare straight at the odorous man.

“Today you cannot win. In fact, today you need to come tenth.” Valentine said, a smug smile crossing his face.

Alec sucked in a sharp breath, “You want me to lose? You, our biggest investor, want me to lose?”

“Well, yes Alec, I do believe that’s exactly what I said. Tenth place. No higher, no lower, you’ll still get a point so it won’t ruin your career and we can say you had some kind of car trouble after to account for it, I’m sure Hodge can think something up. You know Hodge and I used to race together, right?” 

“I didn’t,” Alec said tightly, eyes flickering back to the window where he could just see Hodge’s head thrown back as he laughed at something Simon said.

“Well, we did. So you see, _he_ is loyal to me. He’ll help you out. He knows what’s going on. You see Alec, there is a lot, a LOT at stake this weekend, and if you choose not to do this, then I won’t be able to help you out the next time your pretty little sister needs something new for your car. In fact, I will need to withdraw my investments straight away, maybe move it over to Edom? I heard they’re always looking for new blood. So,” he said, giving Alec a small grin, “Do we have an agreement?”

“I hate you.” Alec said firmly, unsurprised when Valentine simply laughed.

“Do you want to explain to your wonderful, loving, mother and father why their biggest investor dropped out just after meeting with you privately, Alec? Do you want Idris to drop them, to drop you all? Ruin your career and theirs too. Even ruin the career of your new driver, Magnus Bane? I don’t think you want that responsibility, that on your conscience. We all know you race for Max, race to remember him, are you ready to give that up? Ready to ruin your whole family all at once?” he asked, a cruel laugh slipping out as he finished.

Alec’s heart jumped at Max’s name and his mind was a whirlwind, what on earth should he do. He couldn’t say yes. If he said yes, he would lose his integrity as a driver, all the years he had worked to get here, they would all be in vain.

But if he said no. The loss would be devastating. Isabelle was a genius, she would get another job, but probably not in Formula One - the place she loved and called home. Simon would lose his job too, and everyone who worked for the team.

His Mother and Father would be furious with him. They had built up Idris for years, it was their business, their baby. Their memorial for Max. He couldn’t rip it away.

And Magnus - he would have to find another new team, when he’s just found this one. Could he do that to him?

He stared at Valentine, horror in his expression. Then resignation.

“Fine,” he said. “But I want you to remember that I hate you. I think you are a vile, disgusting man, with no morals and no empathy. And I won’t do it again. One time only. I refuse to go through this again.”

Valentine laughed once more, “Are you sure you’re only 19, young Alec? You negotiate like a man twice your age.” His laughter dropped and his eyes turned stony black, “I will ask this of you today. I may need another favour in the future, but next time I won’t be asking you. I’ll find a way to do it without you knowing. Perhaps you should be wary of getting in your car later on, wouldn’t want you to have an accident...like Jace...”

Alec stared at him coldly, unable to believe his ears.

“Did you do that to him?” he yelled, startling himself with the intensity.

“I couldn’t possibly comment,” Valentine ground out back at him, upper body leaning into Alec’s personal space. “But, as I said. You better be careful, Alec Lightwood or you might find yourself in a lot of trouble. Now tootle off, I need to speak with a man about a car race...sort out a few bets I need to place. Have a good practise, hope your nose cone doesn’t fall off.”

\-----

Alec stormed out of the room and down the stairs.

As he reached the bottom, the first person he locked eyes with was Hodge. He glared at him with purpose, before looking up at the glass into his father’s office. Hodge followed his gaze, spotted Valentine and then his eyes softened in sympathy and he strode towards him.

But Alec refused to let him come near, moving away towards his locker.

Still angry, he ripped his t-shirt over his head and pulled out his fire suit. It was when he began to unbutton his jeans that Magnus appeared next to him.

“You seem tense, Alexander, anything I can do?”

“No,” Alec said shortly, unable to look at him. He was full of anger and disappointment and he couldn’t let it go. He couldn’t calm down. God, what had he just done? He was such an idiot. He should have found a way out of it.

Suddenly, Magnus’ hand was touching his bare shoulder, sending a shiver through him. He jolted away like a caged animal, even taking a step back, and Magnus brought his hands up in front of himself, holding them up to show that he wouldn’t touch him again.

“I’m sorry Alexander, I shouldn’t have touched you without asking, are you okay? You seem really uncomfortable.”

“It’s okay,” Alec replied as he began to blush, suddenly aware that he was half-naked in front of Magnus. “I just, I just need a minute to get ready, okay?”

“Of course, me too,” Magnus said, and then a glorious sight met Alec’s eyes, miles of naked skin, golden, caramel skin. Smooth skin that looked soft and oh so edible. He couldn’t draw his eyes away. He really tried.

“Oh, you like it?” Magnus suddenly asked, as he caught Alec looking.

“Ummm…” Alec said, blushing even more deeply and dragging his eyes up to Magnus’ face. But that was also a mistake. Magnus had a small, quizzical smile on his lips and they were so perfectly beautiful, shining with gloss, that Alec might have gasped out loud.

He quickly took a small step away, looking down to get his bearings and then looked back at Magnus’ face.

“You like it?” Magnus repeated, and then Alec noticed him gesturing to the tattoo on his shoulder.

Oh thank god. He thought Alec had been staring at that. Of course he did.

A whoosh of air left his lips and then he nodded, still unable to speak with any coherency.

“For my mother,” Magnus said, a wistful expression on his face.

“Oh umm, I’m sorry, did she...pass?” Alec spoke at last, voice breathy and not at all his own.

Magnus smiled softly at him as though understanding that he couldn’t do much else right now. “Yes, over 15 years ago, long before I became a driver, before I met you too,” he smiled.

“I...umm...I have one too,” Alec admitted, feeling like he should share his truth with Magnus as well. “It’s… umm.. It’s for Max,” 

“How wonderful,” Magnus breathed out, “I think he would have loved it. He would be very proud of you Alexander,”

Alec stared at Magnus, internally screaming that no, Max would not be proud of him right now, that if Max knew what he had just agreed to, he would be screaming at him and telling him he was an idiot and worse.

But he couldn’t say anything. Instead he just stared back.

\-----

Eventually, when they were both ready, they hooked up their comms and took the cars out on the track. In his ear, Magnus whooped and hollered and yelled his thanks to Izzy and Simon as he flew around, twisting and turning and making incredible time.

Alec too was loving the ride, his new nose cone did make his car faster and more stable and he was flying. 

“Izzy, it feels incredible,” he giggled, unable to stop smiling.

“Are you giggling, Alexander?” came Magnus’s velvety voice over the comms, the sound going straight to Alec’s crotch.

He shifted uncomfortably, foot never leaving the gas pedal, shifting gears to go faster, “Umm...I might be…” he admitted, voice dropping low.

“Stop flirting you two, and come in, we need to sort those tires,” Izzy suddenly interrupted, voice full of laughter.

“We’re not flirting!” Alec and Magnus chorused together.

Then Magnus’ voice, “I’ll race you Alexander!” 

\------

As they both jumped out of their cars, passing their steering wheels over and pulling off their helmets, their eyes met. Magnus’ were bright with joy, his whole body shaking from the pleasure of the drive.

“I won!” he yelled, punching the air.

At first, Alec was able to smile. But then he remembered.

He had been able to forget his deal with Valentine while they had been playing on the track, but now his eyes were shining with sadness. He turned away abruptly and grabbed his clothes from his locker, making his way to a private changing room where he could wallow alone. 

Magnus made a gesture to go follow him, but Izzy shook her head. She knew her brother. Whatever was wrong with him, he needed a minute alone. 

After getting changed, he spent a few minutes just sitting on the bench, breathing deeply. He couldn’t think too closely about what he had agreed to do. If he did, he was worried he would have a break down, right here and now and he couldn’t risk that. Izzy wouldn’t believe him if he told her he was fine. Plus Magnus, well he was so empathetic he would know something serious was happening. He needed a plan.

After a few minutes, he decided and sent a quick text.

Not long after, Hodge knocked on the door. “Alec?” he whispered.

Alec unlocked the door and let him in, indicating the bench beside him, “Do you know what I have to do?” he asked, voice dull.

“Yes, he told me. I’m so sorry Alec. I did try to warn your parents, but by then they were in too deep, and he’s a powerful man. I don’t think they know anything about what he’s making you do though. I don’t know what he’d do if they found out. He’s dangerous.”

“Hodge. You’ve gotta answer me. I need to know the truth. Look at me and tell me the truth okay,” Alec could feel himself getting hysterical as he spoke, voice getting whinier and mouth going dry, “Did you have anything, ANYTHING to do with what happened to Jace?”

He watched as Hodge’s mouth dropped, “No,” he said seriously, “I absolutely promise you, no. I would never, I could never…”

“Okay, I believe you,” Alec replied, staring at him. “What should I do now? Do you have a plan?”

\-----

After his talk with Hodge, Alec was drained. He declined to use his second practise and, after a brief chat with Izzy, where he tried to convince her he was just tired, he left Magnus to his laps, smiling as he heard him continue to praised Izzy over the comms. 

When he got back to the hotel, he went over Hodge’s plan once more in his head and then stripped down to his boxers and lay on the bed. He was soon fast asleep as the traumatic day caught up with him.

\----

He awoke to a knock at his door.

Half awake, he stepped over to it and opened it, absentmindedly scratching his chest with one hand.

There was silence. He looked up to see Magnus staring at him, his mouth hanging open.

“Alexander,” he began, “I’m back,”

“Huh?” Alec shrugged, looking down at him.

“Just...well..you need to warn a man if you’re going to answer the door like that…” Magnus said, voice soft and seductive.

He saw the moment that Magnus realised that he did not know he was only wearing his boxers, his eyes opening wide before he turned his back to him.

Alec was mortified, a blush spreading across his whole body rapidly. He quickly ran into his room and grabbed his discarded tee, pulling it on. 

“It’s okay, I’m decent now,” he called out, voice cracking slightly. 

Magnus turned and hesitated in the doorway, ‘Alexander, may I come in?”

“Oh, sure, sorry,” Alec said, nodding and indicating the couch with his hand.

As Magnus entered, the door closed with a click and then they were truly alone. 

“I’m sorry for dropping in like this,” Magnus began, eyeing Alec with interest where he was draped across the bed, head resting on his bent arm. “Just, I did try to call and you were obviously...otherwise engaged,” he said saucily.

“Sleeping Magnus, I was sleeping,” Alec protested, watching Magnus carefully as his eyes raked over Alec’s long, bare legs. “Do you need me to put some trousers on so you can concentrate?” 

“Sorry!” Magnus smirked, clearly not sorry at all, “If you will put yourself on display, I can’t help but look….much like you were staring at me earlier…”

Alec coughed as Magnus continued to smirk at him. “I thought I was very kind, giving you an out by talking about my tattoo...you know you never did tell me where yours is...and I have seen rather a lot of you today, so I’m guessing somewhere intimate… care to share?” 

“No...no..I umm...no,” Alec stuttered, eyes looking everywhere but at Magnus. 

“Oh..kay,” he said, voice lilting. “Then down to business, Isabelle is staying with Simon...somewhere that’s not here...she asked me to bring you these,” he said, indicating the paperwork in his hands. “Lap times from earlier, she insisted I brought the paper copies instead of her sending them electronically...though I can’t imagine why? Can you?”

“Oh you know Izzy,” Alec said, relaxing into the flirty conversation, feeling quite comfortable with Magnus now he wasn’t nearly naked. “She’s a schemer, seems to think I can’t do anything without her help,”

“Oh really, I’ve never had a sister so I wouldn’t know,” Magnus grinned, “So what do you think her nefarious plan was in sending me here with these?” he asked, leaning forward from the couch to pass the papers to Alec, allowing his soft fingertips to play along the edge of Alec’s hand as they touched.

Alec smiled, taking his time to draw his hand back, enjoying Magnus’ touch. “I imagine she wants us to talk, you know, gel as a team, perhaps develop a secret handshake ready for the race tomorrow…”

“Secret handshake...hmmm...interesting Alexander,” he replied, waving his hand around, bracelets jangling on his wrist and drawing Alec’s eye to them.

They were brightly coloured, pink and green and yellow, and they complemented Magnus’ choice of a simple navy sweater and soft looking sweatpants with a bright yellow lightning bolt down the side. 

“You always look so nice..” Alec said before he could stop himself.

“Nice?” Magnus asked, “Not sure I’m ever trying for a nice, but thanks I guess,”  
Alec could tell he was mocking him and not at all offended, but he quickly scrambled to correct himself, “Sorry Magnus, I’m not Izzy, I guess, beautiful, handsome, well-dressed? Which do you prefer?”

“Oh, all of them, any compliment you want to give me, I shall lap up,” he grinned, sticking out his tongue.

Alec shivered involuntarily, his own tongue poking out to wet his lips. Magnus tracked the movement and Alec shivered again.

“Well,” he said, nervously, it’s race day tomorrow and I think...well no, I know, we both need some sleep, so…”

“Kicking me out...I see..” Magnus said sadly, “Just when I thought I was turning you around to me,” he continued, over exaggerating with a stuck out lip and sad eyes.

“Oi!” Alec said, “ Don’t you start, Simon’s always doing that, turning on the water works and pretending and stuff…” he laughed. And then, not even thinking of the consequences, he grabbed a pillow from the bed and threw it at Magnus. 

Who caught it, and then launched himself at him, hitting him over the head and then repeatedly on his upper body. Alec quickly retaliated with a pillow of his own and it turned into a full on fight.

When they were both huffing for breath, they stopped. 

Magnus was tucked between Alec’s legs, their chests pressed together, his head in the crook of Alec’s neck. 

A tentative hand came up to cup Alec’s face as Magnus lifted his head to look at him.

“Alec,” he began.

And then they surged towards each other, lips meeting in a heated kiss, hands tugging at each other, Alec hauling Magnus upwards so their groins were ground together.

It lasted for minutes, both of them fighting for dominance, both hard in their pants. Cocks rubbing deliciously together, tongues battling.

And then Alec pulled away and said ‘No.’ 

Magnus stopped immediately, pulling back and lifting himself out of Alec’s lap where he had ended up.

His hands up again, the same gesture from before. His lips reddened and cheeks flushed.

“Okay.” He said.

They stared at each other for several long moments, chests heaving, before Alec spoke.

“I’m sorry Magnus,” he said.

“Never apologise for saying no, Alexander. Better to say no than to suffer the consequences, I promise.”

“Thank you,” he said simply.

“I should go,” Magnus said then, “You need space,”

“I do…” Alec said, “But...I don’t want it. Could you, would you, would it be terribly awful of me, would I be leading you on if I just asked you to sleep here? I would really like to be with you right now. But not, not doing that. What do you think?” he asked, expression terrified.

“I’ll stay Alexander. If you truly want me to?”

“I do,” he replied.

\-----

They woke up in a tangle, arms and legs together, Alec’s head pressed into Magnus’ chest, Magnus’ head resting atop it.

“Hey,” Alec whispered as he felt Magnus stir. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, just need a minute to wake up,” Magnus replied, stretching his limbs out, rolling away.

Alec ached for him as he moved away. Then he stretched his own limbs and moved to the edge of the bed to drink the glass of water there.

“So, last night,” Magnus began, standing up and moving to the bathroom to fill his own glass.

“I don’t regret kissing you,” Alec said honestly, watching Magnus’ graceful movements as he came to settle on the side of the bed nearby. He reached out for the wrist with the bangles, fingers twirling them one way and then the other. “I regret telling you to stop though...well a bit..”

“If you only regret it a bit, then you were right to ask me to stop, Alexander, you must know about consent right?”

“Oh, I do...just I was in two minds. I loved it,” he couldn’t look into Magnus’ eyes, but he wanted to, so he continued to play with his bangle, stroking the smooth stone, “I really loved it, but I wasn’t ready for all of that, not yet. We barely know each other, I know you’ve been flirting with me forever, but we don’t really know much about each other at all,”

“You’re right, about everything, of course,” Magnus said hovering his hand over Alec’s, until he reached up and laced their fingers together. “Too much, too fast. A bit like Formula One..” he laughed.

“I want you, Magnus. But I need time.” Then Alec licked his lips nervously and looked up at him, “Would you...be interested in going on a date? Sometime?”

“I would,” Magnus smiled, “Maybe later this month when this race is done, before the next one?”

“Perfect,” Alec replied, lifting their joined hands to press a kiss to the back of Magnus’.

\------

At the track, they acted like nothing had happened, but were a little closer than before, they even tried out a couple of handshakes before Qualifying started.

He and Hodge had agreed that he could race well and get a good position...not pole but still top 5, and then in the later stages of the race he would pull back and let others pass him as he feigned difficulty with the car.

It seemed like a pretty decent plan, until he posted his first lap time and Isabelle’s voice was so disappointed that he felt tremendously guilty. He went faster the second time,taking third position and this cheered her up.

His final trial kept him in third, and he prayed someone might take over him. Dropping seven positions might look pretty suspicious for the top driver, especially as his stats would show nothing wrong with the car when Izzy ran diagnostics.

Luckily, or not, the Morgenstern brother’s were next and quickly overtook his time, stealing first and second, before Magnus put them in their place with the quickest lap of the day.

Alec joined in with the celebrations in the Idris garage and took the time to congratulate Magnus with a hearty hug before he and Hodge escaped to look over the numbers and formulate their final strategy.

He spent some time with his parents who were disappointed with his times of course, but seemed distracted by Magnus taking pole and the amount of journalists they needed to schedule.

He slipped off to the hotel early and settled in with some Netflix to clear his head.

The knock on his door came as a surprise, but the person behind it was not.

“Magnus,” he smiled as his team mate came in, smiling. “Brilliant work today!”

They hugged, holding each other slightly longer than they had in the garage before they settled together on the couch and cuddled up to an episode of Brooklyn-nine-nine. It felt natural to hold hands, so they did.

When the episode ended, Magnus stretched and then gave him a grin. “So, question, Alexander…”

“Yes?” he asked seeing the serious look in Magnus’ eye.

“Why did you hold back today? You should have had pole with the times you were racing yesterday. What happened?”

“No, no, that’s not true at all,” he protested, watching as Magnus’ lips turned down into a frown. Then he jumped up and began to pace.

“It is. You should have had pole. You should have beaten me, beaten us all. So tell me, did you do it to help me out? Because it you did, that’s just awful and insulting.”

“No...No you’ve got it all wrong,” Alec said, scrambling to his feet and grabbing Magnus by the upper arms holding him steady as he spoke, “I was really having difficulty holding it together today, Magnus, I was emotional and all over the place and I couldn’t concentrate.” He let go of Magnus’ arms and ran a hand down his own face.

“Because of me,” realisation crossed Magnus’ face and he looked horrified, “I messed your routine up last night didn’t I! It’s me, my fault. Oh shit, I am so sorry Alexander. I’m going to go. I can’t be here right now.”

“No!” Alec shouted, “ No.” he said more calmly, stopping Magnus in his tracks towards the door.

“That’s not it at all. I just, I was feeling really emotional about...well about Max…” he lied and then felt terrible as Magnus’ face softened and he leaned in to cup his cheek, “Oh Alec, I’m sorry, I should have realised. It’s hard for you isn’t it. Having to race where he’s raced before. I hadn’t thought about that.”

They sat back down on the couch, Magnus’ arm wrapping Alec close. 

“I want you to know something, Alexander,” Magnus started, eyes meeting his, “It’s important. I was scared to say anything before, but I need to tell you now.”

Alec could see the seriousness in his expression, turning so their bodies were facing each other fully. “Go on,” he said.

“My father. He’s not a nice man,” Magnus gave a grimace, “He’s terrible in fact. If I wasn’t his son, if he wasn’t my legal guardian til I was 18, I wouldn’t have ever driven for Edom. Jace’s accident gave me a way out. But...this is awful Alec...I think my father was responsible…”

Alec gasped. Eyes filling with tears immediately. Magnus looped his arms around him, pulling him in and they both bled tears on each other’s shoulders. 

\-----

Waking up wrapped around Magnus was something Alec felt he could quickly get used to. Last night had been emotional, but they had agreed to leave the conversation for now and focus on the race they had to complete today.

After Magnus slipped away to shower in his own room, though not without making a saucy remark about Alec’s own shower, nor without pressing a kiss to Alec’s cheek, he sat down and went through everything in his head. 

He still felt horrible for leading Magnus to believe he was upset about Max, but he couldn’t tell him the truth and risk him getting involved. But the revelation about Magnus’ father. That was a serious thing that he needed to think about. If he had been involved in Jace’s accident then that could mean he was in league with Valentine. Which meant everything Alec loved, everything he drove for, everything in his life, was in danger.

\-----

Alec celebrated Magnus’ pole position and win along with everyone else at Idris, his own tenth hanging over him like a heavy stone.

Isabelle’s distraught expression had broken him and he had had to sneak away with Hodge to escape it and discuss what they were going to say in the debrief.

But Magnus’ warm hug at the end, when he came back covered in sticky champagne, and then the hug they shared later, at the hotel in private, managed to bring a smile back to his face even after his mother and father had expressed their disbelief at his position.

He sighed deeply as he got ready for bed, smiling when he finally heard the knock he had been waiting for. 

Sleeping with Magnus in his arms brought him comfort and relief, and he could almost forget all about Valentine and Asmodeus...almost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...two long chapters in one day...I'm really inspired by this prompt!
> 
> Let me know what you think please!
> 
> On Twitter @ClaireyCookey (but I don't have many followers so come say hey!)
> 
> Hope you enjoy! It got quite plotty....
> 
> I'm British, ignore the spelling!


	3. Hungary: Fights and Failure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus and Alec fall out.
> 
> There's a serious incident on the race track.
> 
> And feelings, lots of feelings...

_Welcome to Mogyorod, home of the Hungarian Grand Prix! All eyes are on Idris’ Alec Lightwood today as he battles back from his disappointing tenth place in Germany. Luckily Team Idris are still leading the Constructors Championship thanks to new driver, Magnus Bane. The other big surprise from the last race was the rise of the Morgenstern twins who took 2nd and 3rd on the podium. It was an awkward celebration all round as Bane and his father Asmodeus avoided each other. Today should prove to be a thrilling race with Lightwood back in pole position and Bane in second. They are still 1st and 2nd overall and remain the ones to beat this season. Have a great day, race fans and remember to tune in at 12pm for the chequered flag to drop!_

“What the fuck is going on in here?” Robert Lightwood roared, marching into the garage and dragging Alec and Magnus apart. 

They were both sweating heavily, glaring angrily at each other. Magnus’ eyes were screwed up tightly and he was clutching his shoulder, while Alec was fighting against his father’s embrace, panting heavily.

Isabelle was clutched in Simon’s arms, looking between the pair and frowning.

“They just started fighting, when they came back in from that last lap,” Izzy said, staring at her brother as if she didn’t know him. “I don’t know why, but we couldn’t separate them.”

Alec growled, fighting against his father, arms swinging wildly as he tried to get to Magnus.

But Robert held him tight.

Magnus just stood there, staring at Alec, a look of betrayal on his face, before his face softened and he reached out a hand.

“Alexander?” he said, voice hesitant.

“You don’t get to call me that!” Alec snarled angrily, “You’re just like your fucking father! Stay the fuck away from me!”

“Right,” Robert said, looking between them, “Alexander’s coming with me, you two get that shoulder checked by the medics.” Then he marched away, dragging Alec with him.

He dug his heels into the concrete, but his father was resolute and didn’t let go, just kept pulling him away.

“You will fucking hurt yourself Alexander if you keep struggling, stop being a baby,” Robert hissed, then felt Alec’s weight droop on him as he gave up the fight. 

He managed to get him upstairs and into his office, where he dumped him on the couch.

“Talk!” he commanded, staring at his son, whose face had tightened into another furious expression, but this one closed off, he was clearly not going to tell Robert what was going on. Alec suddenly drew his feet up on to the couch and wrapped his arms tightly around them, making himself as small as his tall frame could possibly be.

Robert gave him a final angry look before his expression softened. It was exactly what his son had done as a child when he had been hurt by the other children’s unkind words, or when he was feeling sad or angry.

“Alec, what happened?” he tried again, but Alec stubbornly refused to speak. 

Robert stepped over to his desk and picked up the phone, listening for the click as Isabelle answered.

“I know it’s race day, but could you get up here if you have a minute?”

“Not, mom,” Alec said through gritted teeth.

“No,” Robert agreed, “It would not help your mother’s stress levels to see you in this state right now, you are a grown man, Alec, this is disgraceful behaviour. Whatever disagreement you and Magnus are having, it needs to stay out of my garage!”

Alec ignored him, in favour of curling himself up further on the couch. He felt so disappointed in himself, he didn’t need his father to remind him that _he_ was too.

When Isabelle entered the office, some of the tension bled out of his shoulders, but he waited for his father to leave before he untwisted his hands and let his arms fall against the sofa.

Izzy pulled the desk chair towards him, and then sat down, serious expression on her face.

“Right, Alec, come on, dish it,” she said, giving him a fierce frown.

“Nothing to tell, he’s a dick and I hate him,” Alec replied, voice flat and emotionless now he wasn’t fighting Magnus anymore.

“You don’t really think that, Alec, I’ve seen how you two look at each other. Something’s happened and you need to tell me so I can help you fix it.” she replied calmly, watching as her brother’s neck flushed. 

“No, Isabelle. It’s serious - a chat is not going to make it better. He’s not who he’s been pretending to be. He’s the person I thought he was before he came here - a smarmy, flirting, nasty idiot who is probably here as a spy so his horrible father can find out all our secrets, all your secrets,” His voice got steadily louder as he spoke, eyes flashing and hands clenched back into fists. 

“What on earth has happened? You were starting to really gel as teammates Alec, even a blind person could see your chemistry, just tell me,” she yelled, startling her brother into looking at her.

Quickly, Alec jumped to his feet and stalked over to the plate glass window, glaring down into the garage below. He could see Simon and Magnus sitting on one of the couches that were spread throughout the office. They weren’t talking as far as he could see, but Simon had his sympathetic face on and it made Alec’s blood boil. He watched until one of the medics came in and started to assess Magnus’ shoulder.

Oh god! He could have really hurt him! Alec slammed his first into the glass window, relishing the pain that vibrated through his knuckles. Magnus looked up at the sound and they locked gazes. Alec glared, Magnus looked… not happy.

He turned away, back to his sister, unable to bear the guilt.

“I’m just, It’s just….of god Izzy! I did something stupid and now I’m going to pay for it. I can’t think straight and he was being his usual flirty self and he took it too far and I remembered why I hated him for all those years. Why we were rivals in Formula 3. He doesn’t care about me, he cares about winning. And that’s it!” he stalked away from the window, eyes on his sister as he begged her to understand, begged her for forgiveness that he knew he didn’t deserve. “We’re not going to be some incredible, beautiful love story, we’re not destined for that. We might be on the same team, but we’re enemies! There’s nothing to be done about it.”

Izzy just stared at him.

“Alec, you’re 19. I don’t think anyone is asking for it to be some epic love story right now. But you can like him. You can’t help who you fall for you know?”

“I know that Izzy, but I can’t...with him...I already told you why. He’s too much like Asmodeus...manipulative. And there's more...”

“We can stop talking about Magnus, Alec, for now. But the other thing you said, about you messing up and doing something stupid? What’s going on? You gotta tell me about that…”

Alec stared at her. The burden he was carrying was huge. He knew he shouldn’t, but his sister was his best friend, always had been - together they had been a formidable team against Max and Jace for years. 

“I don’t want you to be part of this Izzy. When I say I messed up, I mean I really, really fucked up!” He said, sinking onto the couch next to her and letting her stroke her fingers through his messy hair.

“Nothing is so fucked up, I can’t help you, Alec,” she smiled.

“You might be...surprised,” he sighed.

“I’m your big sister. You’re going to have to tell me, I invoke Big Sister Rule Number 63!” she laughed.

Alec managed a weak smile, then turned so they were facing each other. “If I tell you this, you have got to promise me, I mean it Iz, promise me, that this stays between us unless we both agree someone else needs to know. I mean it. I truly fucked up and it could lose us all everything!”

She stared at him, the serious expression, the fear in his eyes.

“I promise little brother.”

\-----

He had told her everything. Everything that had happened with Valentine, what Hodge had said, Magnus’ thoughts about his father and Jace’s accident, his own suspicions.

Eventually, he stopped talking and she stood to go and pour him a glass of water while she collected her thoughts.

“That’s…” she began, staring at him.

“I know…” he replied, head down, unable to look at her as waves of guilt rolled through him. 

“I can’t believe you’ve been through all that alone, sweetie,” she said, coming over to him and pulling him in for a hug. He latched on tight, revelling in the feeling of release now she knew. “I’m so sorry I’ve been so distracted with Jace and the new cars and Magnus and Simon.”

“It’s not your fault Izzy,”

“I’m your big sister, Alec, I’m supposed to be able to protect you from the terrible things. I’m so so sorry.”

They hugged each other tighter and then she pulled back and stared at him.

“I’m going to need to do some digging Alec, because what Valentine made you do, that could be race fixing. If he made bets on you coming tenth, then you helped him to do that and there’s no way out of it. They could ban you from the sport. Ban you for life.”

“I know, Iz.” He said, hanging his head, unable to look at her, heart pounding as he considered it happening, the horror of losing the thing that he loved most, the thing that kept him connected to Max, “I wasn’t thinking straight when I agreed and I didn’t consider the possibility. I just agreed because I’m weak and I’m stupid.”

“No. Alexander Gideon Lightwood, you look here. Look at me, right now, and listen.” Alec raised his head, staring at Izzy’s determined expression, “You are not stupid and you are not weak. You are brave to try and protect us all. I promise you that it’s my turn to try and protect you now. You’re my brother. I won’t let you face this alone.”

They stayed in the office as long as they could, talking over things a little more and coming to the conclusion that Izzy would need to speak to Hodge to see what he could find out. If there were big bets of Alec coming tenth in Germany then he was in serious trouble. Bets on Magnus beating him - trouble. Bets on Magnus winning, not so bad because Alec couldn’t have made that happen. But even though Izzy was determined to help, it didn’t ease Alec’s guilt, or the all-encompassing thoughts that he should quit before it all blew up in their faces.

But Izzy refused to listen to him. “No, I will not let anyone take your place. You messed up Alec, but while we don’t know how bad it is, I’m not going to let you take the fall, we’ll find out what we can, I promise I’m on your side and I only want the best for you. Let me do this with you. We’re team Lightwood first Alec, we stick together.”

\----

Facing Magnus right before the race was hell. He couldn’t look at him, didn’t go back to speak to him as they waited on the track, as he had done the race before. Simply stood next to his car and waited for the start to come. 

It was lucky that he didn’t turn back, headphones tucked over his ears, it meant he missed the moment that Asmodeus and the Morgenstern twins turned their attention to Magnus. Because if he had seen that, he would not have been able to control his reactions. Perhaps he would have gotten them both disqualified before the race even began which, it turned out, might have been for the better.

They surrounded Magnus suddenly, close enough that he could reach out and touch any of them. Although other drivers saw it happening, no-one moved to help, and Team Idris were distracted with other tasks so no help came from there either.

“Hello Magnus, Bane of our existence,” hissed Jonathan, small bits of spittle flying through the air and hitting his cheek. 

“Planning to overtake lover boy and win today, are you?” asked Sebastian in an equally unpleasant voice.

“Of course he’s not,” said Asmodeus, voice low and threatening, “He’s not their number one driver, he’ll be told to hold back and protect young Alexander from you two…”

“Don’t say his name!” Magnus growled, glaring at his father, “This is intimidation. You need to leave right now, your behaviour disgusts me. I _will_ complain to the officials!”

“I think not, my dear, DEAR, boy, this is just a friendly chat between father and son,” Asmodeus smiled, grimace stretching his face for a second before it dropped back into a growl. “Magnus, you think my behaviour disgusts you? My boy, not as much as yours disgusts me!” he snapped, his face animated now, anger etched in the lines, “Leaving me, leaving your father who raised you! You don’t deserve my name! And you can’t win! You left the best chance you had of taking the title. How sad it seems now, poor, little abandoned Magnus. Abandoned all your life, you tried to abandon me and look what’s happened… You’re going to be abandoned by your chosen team, especially if they think you were involved in Jace’s accident...and they will begin to suspect that you were soon!”

Suddenly, Simon was there beside him, pushing past the trio to stand by his side. Magnus took a shaky breath as he felt their arms press together.

“Leave him alone! Piss off to your own pathetic cars!” he yelled, standing tall as he stared at Asmodeus.

Asmodeus laughed, a cold sound that pierced Magnus’ heart, “I’ll leave you to it Magnus...looks like you have one friend at least...shame it won’t last, it never does for you after all!”

Then they were gone and Simon was clutching his arm and asking if he was okay. His own hands shaking as he babbled that he couldn’t believe that he’d done that.

Magnus tried to shrug it off, but together they had really unnerved him and hearing his father’s vicious words had knocked him out of his pre-race warm up routine. Added to his fight with Alec, who was studiously ignoring him, it was just too much. When he climbed into the car, he was not his usual self, so the accident should not have been such a surprise.

\-----

Magnus had managed to push aside some of his feelings about the fight with Alec, and from the attack by his father. He had been following Idris’ instructions as calmly as he could and driving a pretty good race so far.

Asmodeus had been right in his assumptions that Idris would want him to protect Alec. They needed him to earn first this time so he could add to his points total after the abysmal showing in Germany. But Magnus didn’t feel any more anger towards him, that was just good strategy and he had known it would be like that anyway.

So when he got to Lap 18, it came as a surprise to be told to start to prepare for a pitstop. He was the only one between Alec and team Edom after all, but Izzy said she was concerned about his fuel pipe as she had noticed something on the monitors and wanted to check it out.

Unfortunately for him, The Morgensterns had a strategy, of their own. A terrible one.

During Lap 17, first Jonathan and then Sebastian would come up behind him, taking turns to intimidate him. He was a good driver, a great driver, second last year in his first season; but his fight with Alec and the intimidation tactics from his father had left him feeling exhausted. 

So, when Jonathan zoomed up behind him, as he was headed towards the pits on Lap 18, pushing it with how close he was getting as they entered corner 7, he simply lost his focus for a split second as he tried to shake him off and then there was gravel and a wall of tires. 

He slammed into them, but luckily the gravel and his lightning quick reflexes had slowed him down. It could have been much worse. 

He watched in horror as one of his tires became disattached, bouncing and landing a metre away from the car. The impact with the wall had jarred his neck and left him slightly disoriented. Izzy was going to kill him too; his nose cone has been damaged.

For a minute, he just sat in silence, unable to radio in.

He listened as the frantic voices came over the headset asking his status. 

They were speaking to him on a private line, but suddenly it crackled and he heard his father’s cold voice, “Well done Magnus. One down. One to go.”

He shivered, unable to speak until a race official was pulling him out, taking his steering wheel from his limp hands. 

“I’m okay,” he said, hearing Izzy’s relief. “Don’t tell Alec.”

“I think he already knows, he just radioed in as he passed you,” she said, a frown in her voice.

“Tell him I’m fine then, please,” he said, desperate. “And to watch out for those bloody Morgensterns.”

Then he began the long walk to the pit car, every step feeling heavy, sorrow evident in the droop of his shoulders.

\-----

He waited, with bated breath, as he and Izzy and Simon followed Alec’s progress, watching as Jonathan edged up on his lead. Without Magnus there to slow them down, it felt like they had grown wings on their tires and the only thing stopping them from passing him was Alec’s superior driving. It was clear, as Magnus watched, why Alec was top of the league. 

Of course, Magnus had studied his driving for years, since they had been in Formula 3 together. It was all part of his preparation for any race, to see the weak spots that other drivers left open. But for him, Alec had always been perfection. 

His personal feelings for Alec aside, he knew that he was racing with the best in the world right now and that he would be stupid to keep antagonising him. But god, the things that man did to him. The way he made him feel.

Thinking back to Germany and their kisses made him quiver still, stomach twisting. He had been stupid to push him today and cause the fight (because it was his fault he knew) last week; and now he wasn’t there to protect him from his old teammate, who had a personal vendetta against him thanks to his own father. 

When Alec finally came in for a pit stop, he made himself scarce, heading to a changing room so Alec would not have to see him. He had already heard Alec asking after him over the radio and how Izzy had shot him down, saying he was fine and to focus. 

He had told Izzy about Asmodeus breaking into their communications and she had hissed out a breath and run off to talk with Hodge, who was going to ‘handle it’.

Lap 42 came and Alec’s lead had suddenly been eaten up by his pit stop as Jonathan raced after him. Alec was limping along on old tires now, unwilling to make another stop, because tactically he could hold Jonathan off. 

So, when he too was sent spinning out of the race, on Corner 7 no less, Magnus was not the only one yelling in the garage. 

He had watched, helpless, as Alec was chased by the Morgensterns, the same pattern of attack they had used against him. It appeared, at first, as though Alec was handling it fine, until Sebastian got too close and there was contact.

Alec’s car spun, much faster than Magnus’ had. When _he_ hit the tire wall, Magnus could almost hear the crunch as his nose cone bent off and 2 tires flipped away.

Izzy frantically radioed for him, but there was no reply. Only a strange crackling noise, the same as Magnus had heard on his own comms. He rushed over to Izzy, but she had already realised and was trying out her backup channels, yelling her brother’s name.

Eventually the official made it to Alec’s car and then he was holding the steering wheel, and helping Alec to exit.

They could see that he was holding his right arm against his chest and Magnus lost his breath watching.

Alec didn’t remove his helmet the whole time they were walking, so none of them could see his expression, only imagine how he looked. 

But Magnus knew. Furious grimace on his lips, disappointment in his hazel eyes.

\----

When Alec entered the garage, nobody seemed to know what to expect. It was normal to crash out at least once in a season, so he had been through it before, but never in these circumstances; and never when he and his teammate had spent the morning before the race fighting.

Magnus took a deep breath as he looked up.

Izzy, rushing to hug him and tugging off his helmet was one thing, the look Alec shot Magnus was another.

He couldn’t decipher what Alec wanted him to hear from his expression, but he felt certain that Asmodeus had left him a message too. 

Magnus sank on to the couch behind him, exhausted. He had just settled on to it, Simon next to him, when Robert and Maryse strode into the garage.

“What the fuck happened?” Maryse yelled, staring at her children, who were still clutched together.

“Isabelle, what the hell is going on?” Robert added, anger written over his face. 

“Dad, Mum. Can we go upstairs, talk privately?” she asked, keeping calm. “I won’t be able to tell you much until the cars come in anyway, but Alec and Magnus need to share something with you.”

Maryse’s face tensed up further and she said nothing else, just marched over to the stairs, climbing up to the office above, her high heels tapping on every step.

Izzy, in her oil stained overalls, quickly followed shooting Simon a small private smile, leaving Robert to stare at Magnus and Alec disappointedly before they too were herded up. 

\----

The office was silent. No one seemed able to speak. Maryse seething in rage, Robert beyond angry too.

Alec and Magnus had dropped onto opposite ends of the couch and were looking studiously away from each other, while Isabelle sat between them silently. 

When Maryse finally broke it, it was like the whole room took a collective gasp of air.

“Right, explain. I saw the intimidation but you’ve both dealt with that before. So what happened?” she asked, voice much calmer, but an undercurrent of disappointment running through it.

Alec glanced at his sister and opened his mouth ready to speak, when Magnus cut over him. “It _was_ a tactic they have tried before, but never on that particular corner on this track. They managed to do the same thing to both of us and if they weren’t leading right now, they would have kept doing it to the other drivers. It’s a gentleman’s rule amongst us all that we don’t take advantage of the flaw in this track - one no one has broken, until today.”

“Magnus is right,” Alec piped up then, surprising Magnus with his earnestness, “It’s something that has never happened before. They’re playing dirty. Also, Asmodeus hacked our comms. He spoke to me, right after I crashed, cut me off from Izzy and the team.”

“Me too,” Magnus replied, skirting over the precious seconds where he had been distracted and had simply not reported in. 

“Hodge is aware,” Isabelle said then, cutting in before either of her parents could speak, “He’s checking out the system to try and see what he can do about it. From the footage, I’d say both cars will need quite a bit of work, Alec yours more so than Magnus’, but they will both be ready for Belgium next month.”

“I should bloody well hope so, Isabelle,” their father replied, still angry, “Two races in a row with no points, Alec. We can hardly count the pathetic one you scored last week…”

“And none for the Constructors Championship, when Edom just scored full marks,” his mother agreed. “This is a PR nightmare. We will need some of the other driver’s to back you up about this ‘gentleman’s agreement’ so we can complain though,” Maryse continued, “Who are you friends with on the other teams?”

As Alec began to answer, his mother cut him off, “Not you Alexander.” she said sharply, “I believe Jace was your only friend, I’m talking to Magnus,”

\-----

Back at the hotel, Alec had given Magnus a sad look before they parted in the corridor, none of the day’s drama resolved. Magnus was clearly still mad at him and rightly so, Alec thought. After telling him that his father had basically taunted him about how Magnus was going to be trying to steal his first position, Alec felt a little more charitable towards him. He had his own battles with his parents and fully understood how Magnus felt about Asmodeus.

When he reached his room, he immediately poured himself a neat vodka, downed it, then poured another, before he pulled up Jace’s number and pressed call.

Clary answered and asked him how he was, she had clearly seen the race and wanted to let him know that she’d run all the statistics and he didn’t need to worry...yet.

Finally, he got on the phone with Jace and they spoke for a long time about the race. He was sympathetic and also out for blood, cursing the Morgensterns and their tactics.

And then, he asked after Magnus. Although Alec tried to hide the hitch in his voice, Jace knew him too well not to hear it.

“You fell out?” he asked him, his frown evident even over the phone. “What did you do, Alec?”

“How do you know it was me?” Alec mumbled, hand scratching through his hair. 

“Oh come on Alec ‘I push people away’ Lightwood? Of course it was you. Are you going to tell me? You didn’t even go near him right before the race, the TV crew cut away from him before that whole thing with his father must have happened, but he looked really sad. It’s not a look I associate with Magnus at all.”

Jace didn’t sound like he was mad at Alec, he just clearly wanted to know what was going on and how he could help - he just wanted him to talk it through and get it off his chest.

“We argued,”Alec admitted in a small voice. “He said some things, I said some things. It was awful. I told him to fuck off, Jace. I was so rude.”

“What was the argument about? Want to tell me?”

Alec flopped down on the bed, buried his face in the pillow and let out a silent scream.

“Alec? Alec, mate are you doing the silent scream thing again? I already told you, let out a real one, much more therapeutic!” Jace said, voice lilting with laughter.

“Am not.” Alec argued back, “I just...fine..fine...look, last week we went out on a date.”

“Whoa! Didn’t know you were going there with him! Go on Alec.”  
“It didn’t go well, Jace. We were fighting before we even started the date! Fought over where to go, because I didn’t want something too public in case there were rumours about why he joined the team, but he didn’t care; fought over who would pick up whom - which was actually quite sweet and he won,” Alec paused, remembering when Magnus had arrived at his door with a soft smile on his face and an amaryllis flower in his hand. 

“Then we ate and it was fine, told me stories and we laughed and had a good time. Then his phone rang and he said he had to answer it and he was sorry. I didn’t mind, if you had rung or Izzy I would have been the same. But,” and Alec took a deep breath, trying to contain his sadness, not let it leak out in his words, “But, it was a girl, an ex-girlfriend. It was Camille, Jace!”

“God. Does he know?”

“I was going to talk with him about it...but we argued before that and I didn’t.”

“You’ve got to tell him, Alec, she may be an ex-girlfriend, but he’s got to know she was the one who…”

But even Jace couldn’t say the words. He froze. All the way from England he could hear as Alec began to break down, tears falling freely, soft sobs.

“Alec? Please, Alec, it wasn’t your fault. You know it wasn’t. Don’t go there again. Please Alec, look call Izzy, call her now.”

“She’s with Simon,” Alec hiccupped out.

On the other end of the phone, he heard Clary and Jace talking and then Jace came back on the line.

“Remember your breathing Alec, deep breath in, deep breath out, Clary called Izzy she’ll be coming soon I know it.”

Alec sobbed openly, harsh, wet gasps, he couldn’t stop. Jace’s voice sounded far away and tinny through the mouthpiece of his phone and offered no comfort. He needed someone to wrap his arms around him and hold him and tell him everything was going to be alright.

He pulled a pillow to his chest and tried desperately to slow his breathing. And then there was a knock at the door.

“That’s Izzy,” Jace said, almost shouting to be heard where the phone had been dropped.

Alec stumbled to the door, tears still streaming down his cheeks and pillow clutched tightly to his chest.

He opened it.

Magnus stood outside, phone pressed to his ear, hand raised to knock.

“I’ve got you Alexander,” he murmured as he reached out and pulled him into his arms. “You’re going to be fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed that!
> 
> Feel so sad for Alec, he's clearly been through a lot of trauma.
> 
> Hit the button if you liked it!
> 
> Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4: Belgium - Forgiveness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus and Alec need to recover from their fight, but there's a shock before they can try.

_Welcome to the Belgium Grand Prix! After last week’s devastating results for fans of Team Idris, we know you’ll be excited to see them in pole position today, with Magnus Bane in first and Alec Lightwood right behind him. These two have both had amazing seasons so far, but having them both spin out at the hands of the Morgensterns must have been a shock last week. Sebastian Morgenstern’s ban from today’s race did not come as a surprise to anyone, as everyone was in agreement that he clipped Alec’s car on purpose on corner 7, the only place in the whole of Grand Prix racing to have a traditional ‘gentleman’s agreement’. So Jonathan races alone today and starts from 5th behind Meliorn Seelie and Vampiros Santiago. It’s going to be a fight for the finish today! Have a great day, race fans and remember to tune in at 1pm for the chequered flag to drop!_

It was quiet in the garage. Isabelle and Simon were lying under the cars making last minute tweaks. Hodge was triple-checking the comms system to ensure there were no surprises like in Hungary; and Magnus and Alec were sitting on opposite couches in their racing suits, ignoring each other.

The tension was palpable.

Neither of them had said a word, unless it was an overly polite one in the presence of someone else, since they had woken up tangled together on Alec’s couch after his intense freak out.

Alec had leaped up and stared at Magnus in silent horror, before locking himself in the bathroom while he waited for Magnus to leave.

Magnus had quickly gotten the message that he was unwelcome, despite having calmed Alec down the night before, and had retreated to his own room to get ready for the day.

And then. Silence. 

Not a text, call or friendly word.

They had avoided being alone for the past three weeks and only Isabelle had commented that they were suspiciously quiet and asked if they were planning some epic prank.

There were 2 hours to the chequered flag, and Alec was already wearing his noise cancelling headphones and enjoying the silence, so he missed the screeching noise that filled the garage, seconds before the jack holding up his car collapsed with Simon underneath.

But he definitely saw Magnus’ horrified expression, and felt his fingers on his as they both leaped up to lift the car so Hodge could pull Simon out.

Thanks to their quick reflexes, Simon, who was terribly skinny anyway, was left with only bruises and scrapes from the undercarriage.

He was lucky.

Isabelle had emerged from under Magnus’ car as they pulled him out, and where Alec was shocked into silence, she had turned hysterical, pulling Simon to her and checking him carefully for any further injuries.

He kept insisting he was okay, but Izzy was determined that he go and get checked out at the hospital and called for their team’s medic to go with him.

\-----

After Simon left, and Alec had helped Izzy to calm down, the group gathered around the car while Hodge inserted a new pair of jacks and they checked beneath it.

It was bad news, the impact had caused some serious damage and it was clear how lucky Simon had been, which sent Izzy into another round of tears. She kept blaming herself, as she had set up the jack. But everyone rallied around her as they got the spare car set up for Alec.

An hour before the race and for the first time in a long time, Alec’s stomach was swimming with nerves. Simon’s accident, his continuing fight with Magnus and his fear about Valentine were overcoming him. 

He avoided looking at anyone and hunched over on the couch with his headphones on. He was especially ignoring Magnus, who had been nothing but lovely. It was grating on his nerves and he was feeling tightly wound as he watched Hodge chatting to him.

He had had enough.

Standing up quickly, he marched over and grabbed Magnus’ upper arm, trying hard not to think about how snugly his bicep fit into his hand, dragging him roughly towards one of the changing rooms. 

When they got there, he dragged him in and flipped the lock shut. 

They stared at each other for long seconds.

Then Alec reached for Magnus, as Magnus reached for him. 

They collided in the middle, lips crashing into each other, hands gripping, pulling and twisting the fabric of their fire suits. 

They kissed for a long time, fighting for dominance, their tongues tangling together, teeth clashing and nibbling, harsh sucks and deep breathing. 

And then Magnus pulled away. He stared at Alec, eyes furious.

Alec pulled his headphones to dangle around his neck and waited. 

But Magnus didn’t speak. Merely gave him a very unimpressed look, then reached his thumb up to swipe at his lip, pulling it back to show him the thin line of blood. 

Alec felt the first tear slip down his cheek. It traced a path until it met his top lip and he slipped his tongue out to taste the salt. 

Then Magnus’ fingers were sweeping away the tears that were falling in earnest, and Alec was clutching him tightly, holding him so close, they breathed as one. 

A minute later, Magnus stepped back and gave him one last, serious look. And then he was gone, the door clicking shut behind him. 

Alec breathed deeply, the tension in his shoulders bleeding away. He sat on the bench, waiting until his breathing sounded normal, and then stepped outside.

As he re-entered the garage, he tried to catch Magnus’ eye, but he deliberately looked away. So Alec went back to his sofa and waited patiently.

\------

His mother and father didn’t even bother wishing them luck before the race, but Izzy made a point of hugging both of them tightly and wishing them luck. And Hodge hit him on the back and whispered that he hadn’t found any important bets yet so he thought he was probably safe, which lifted his heart briefly.

But the biggest positive was Simon calling from the hospital, right before they went out on the track, to tell them he was fine. That released more of Alec’s tension and when he was finally seated in the car, long legs stretched in front of him, rested on the pedals and ready for the race, he allowed himself a moment to relax. 

“Ready little brother,” Izzy asked over the comms, voice full of happiness. 

“As I’ll ever be,” he said, his traditional response.

“Mags you all set?” she asked next.

“Set, like a French yoghurt!” he replied with a little laugh. He changed it up every time he responded to her and Alec loved to hear what he would say next. 

He let out his own chuckle and heard Magnus’ sharp intake of breath.

Then the comms went quiet as the race began.

\-----

Magnus drove the race of his career.

Despite being right behind him from the start, Alec had no chance of overtaking him. Magnus flew around the corners, breaking expertly, stamping on the gas at all the right moments. It was beautiful to watch.

When Izzy called him in for his pit stop, Alec took the lead for a brief moment, before Magnus was storming back onto the track while Alec made his stop.

They were 1, 2, for all 55 laps. Meliorn had made a weak effort to pass Alec on a corner and had been shut down with confidence. 

It was a masterclass in driving from Magnus, and Alec felt like he was dragged along on his coattails, almost catching him in the final strait but electing to stay back so Magnus could truly enjoy his moment of victory.

When the race finally ended and they took the flag with only a second between them, his eardrums almost split from the whoops and cheers over his comms. 

He slowed, but stayed at pace with Magnus, until they were alongside one another. He tilted his head to acknowledge him and then said his first words to him in almost a month, “Side by Side?”

“Of course Alexander,” Magnus said voice full of joy.

Then they drove along the strait together, in perfect synch. 

\-----

When they reached their garage and passed out their steering wheels, they were immediately engulfed in arms. Izzy, Hodge, Underhill, Raj, even Simon who had somehow made it back from the hospital already.

After enduring a whole lot of hugs, they were told to prepare for the podium.

“Where are mum and dad?” Alec asked Izzy, confused as to why they weren’t with them to celebrate a one-two victory.

“Upstairs, with Valentine,” she frowned, her eyes wandering to Hodge’s who looked a little worried.

“Okay,” he said, eyes straying to Magnus who had headed towards the lockers, already stripping his suit down his broad shoulders to leave him in a vest, muscles bulging from the 55 lap workout he had just endured.

Alec looked around him, everyone was celebrating. He wouldn’t be missed for a minute.

He followed him.

Magnus didn’t stop by the lockers, sensing Alec behind him, he moved straight to the changing cubicle and opened the door. He stepped in and waited.

He wasn’t disappointed when Alec followed him in and flipped the lock again. 

“You…” Alec began roughly, but Magnus couldn’t wait.

He reached for him, hands tangling in his thick hair and lips meeting for a bruising kiss. 

This time, it became gentler, Alec stroking his hands over Magnus’ back, kneading the tight muscles he could feel.

Magnus’ arms linked around his waist, stroking over his suit softly. 

Their kisses slowed down, turned into gentle pecks and then simple presses of their lips.

Eventually, they drew back, eyes meeting. Alec’s cheeks were flushed - a mixture of arousal and embarrassment and Magnus’ were no better. He had two high spots of colour on his cheekbones and his eyes were sparkling.

“Magnus,” Alec said, unable to stop his grin, “You were incredible! I was so…”

“Turned on?” Magnus asked, winking at him. “You still are.” he continued, the back of his hand brushing over Alec’s obvious erection.

“Umm yeah…” Alec shivered at the touch, willing it to go down. “You were just amazing today...you can’t blame me!”

“I know. You were too, though. In the spare car, you managed to get within a second of me. If you’d had your car I think you’d have taken the flag.”

“Nonsense,” Alec reached out to collect Magnus to his chest, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “You were on fire - today was your day, no-one had a chance.”

“Well, I’ll take the compliment Alexander, but I stand by what I said.” Then he tucked himself under Alec’s chin and hugged him tighter.

They stood together for a little while until Alec coughed, “Magnus, you’re not helping with my little problem you know!”

“I wouldn’t call it a _little_ problem Alexander,” he grinned, “But I’ll go get you your clothes and then we’d better go collect our trophies!”

He kissed him briefly again, before exiting.

\----

On the podium, they had a lot of fun. Magnus was determined to cover Alec in champagne! He sprayed his whole bottle in his direction and managed to coat him fully. Meanwhile, Alec was trying the same tactic, but was being attacked on both sides as Meliorn also upended his bottle on him. Turning he sprayed Meliorn as the crowd roared!

Eventually, the champagne was down to trickles so he drank a slug then passed it to Magnus and watched in awe as his adam’s apple jumped in his throat. He was so focused on watching Magnus that he missed the moment his parents arrived to receive the Constructor’s trophy. 

But suddenly his mother was pressing a kiss to his cheek and speaking lowly just to him.

“Well done Alec, a shame you pulled back in the last 30 metres, would have been nicer to have a Lightwood in first place. At least neither of you caused any drama today.”

Her words were like ice water down his back and he took a stumbling step back to stare at her. No wonder no-one in the league wanted to be his friend when his mother was so standoffish and unpleasant about his own teammate winning. He frowned.

“Mother, we were one-two, come on!” he yelled, not trying to hide his frustration.

“Shut up, Alexander,” she hissed at him and then turned to smile at Magnus, offering her hand for him to shake. 

Alec couldn’t stand to watch her snake in the grass routine, so he gripped onto Magnus’ arm and pulled him away from his mother, “Enjoy collecting your trophy mother,” he growled. 

\-----

When they got back to the garage, Hodge was shutting shop as Izzy and Simon had already left to get him rested up. 

He pulled Alec aside as Magnus headed to the lockers.

“I wanted to talk to you again, Alec. Izzy and I have been doing some serious investigating and neither of us can unearth any big bets on you coming tenth or losing or Magnus beating you, except the usual suspects which have nothing to do with Valentine. So I think you’re in the clear for now. We’ll both have our ear to the ground, but we’re pretty hopeful it’s going to be fine. As for the comms, we’ve tightened up security and there was no suspicious activity today. So, I think you should go and really celebrate the team’s victory tonight! You were both amazing!”

“Thanks Hodge,” Alec said and accepted the hug that was being offered. “I really appreciate you looking out for me.”

Then Magnus was there, holding his backpack alongside his own. “Want to head out, Alec?”

“For definite, I really don’t want to see my parents again. Have a great night Hodge and thanks so much for today!”

They waved goodbye and exited the garage, neither of them noticing Asmodeus slipping in as they left.

\-----

When they reached the hotel, they were both exhausted. Showers and a good sleep were all they wanted. 

They got in the lift and Magnus hit the button for his floor. When they arrived, Alec got out too and followed Magnus down the corridor, a mutual agreement.

While Alec called Jace to update him, Magnus showered. And then Alec showered while Magnus called his best friend Catarina.

He hung up as Alec came back into the room, towel slung low on his hips.

Magnus whistled appreciatively and Alec grinned cheekily. 

“God you’re sexy!” Magnus growled, approaching him for a kiss, “I know how you feel though, would you like some clothes?”

“Sorry...I’m teasing you a little...on purpose! Your fault for using up all your champagne on me...I’m sure I’m drunk!”

“Then you definitely need clothes,” Magnus smiled, reaching out to play with a strand of hair that had fallen across Alec’s face. 

He slipped past him then and found him some sweats and a tee. It was clear how much taller Alec was when the sweats only hit mid-calf, causing Magnus to giggle at him. Alec found it funny too, but he was too busy enjoying the scent of Magnus on his t-shirt.

“You have such a unique scent Magnus, It’s so relaxing.”

“I can’t say anyone’s ever called it relaxing before,” he laughed, pulling Alec down to sit on the bed.

“We need to talk,” Alec said gravely. “ I was...horrid to you. You haven’t let me apologise yet.”

“I don’t want an apology. I caused that fight. I know I did. And you had to deal with your father after. I felt so guilty. I’m so sorry.”

“I panicked,” Alec interrupted. “I like you. But I didn’t want to trust you. I wanted Jace back if I’m honest and I took it out on you. I am so so sorry.”

“Are we both just going to sit here and apologise all night?” Magnus asked, looking him dead in the eye. 

“We could…”Alec said, a grin quirking his lips. “Or…”

“Or…” Magnus repeated.

“Or…” Alec said again and then leaned forward. Magnus met him in the middle and they melted into the kiss. 

“I can never get bored of this,” Magnus admitted, “Your lips are like silk. I love kissing you.”

“I love kissing you too,” Alec said, voice sure. “There’s so much we need to talk about though Magnus. You know Camille...I did something stupid I need to tell you about and we need to talk about Max.”

“I know,” Magnus agreed, “But tonight, can it just be about us? Just us, being happy together because we won? I just want to hold you and hear your heart beating. I want to fall asleep with you and in the morning, I want you to stay and we’ll talk then. Okay? Do you want that too?”

Alec leaned in for a soft kiss and then pulled him down to the mattress, Magnus’ head pillowed gently on his chest. “How’s my heart beat?” he asked, “Beating out the rhythm of your name?”

“Oh definitely...Magnus Bane, Magnus Bane, Magnus Bane…”

They fell asleep together, finally relaxed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy! I am liking this story, but a lot of plot points to bring together and this one really doesn't solve any of them!! Haha!
> 
> :-)
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are like delicious chocolate (which is super expensive here in Thailand so I rarely get any!) 
> 
> @ClaireyCookey on twitter - tweet at me if you like! I will reply! A teacher's life is boring!


	5. Italy: Protection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Italy things get heated when there's a problem with Alec's car...
> 
> Magnus proves who he is and there's a mystery about where he has been (Not solved in this chapter!)

_Welcome to the Italian Grand Prix! After last week’s incredible one two for Team Idris, we’re expecting more great things today, especially as Alec Lightwood has captured pole position again! Sebastian Morgenstern’s ban has been lifted and he might be taking on his brother for third place! Jonathan’s 6th last race did not go down well with Asmodeus Bane, who declined all interviews after the race and in fact has been unreachable for the last few weeks too. However, his son Magnus Bane only arrived on site for yesterday’s qualifying after a ‘family emergency’ so perhaps he’s the reason for Asmodeus’ absence? It’s always dramatic here at the Grand Prix! Have a great day, race fans and remember to tune in at 3pm for the chequered flag to drop!_

Alec and Magnus were draped on the couch in Robert’s office, waiting for him to arrive. They were holding hands and Magnus’ normally caramel complexion looked paler. 

“I told you, you can afford to miss one race, Magnus,” Alec said, squeezing Magnus’ hand tighter and feeling his fingers respond with their own squeeze.

“I know, Clary talked me through all the statistics. But I need to be distracted right now. I can’t cope with sitting here or in the hotel room and watching you race on TV and wonder what would have happened, what I could have done. And what if you need me to support you...I don’t want to miss that or leave you stranded.”

“Your health comes first, Magnus.” Alec insisted, leaning over to drop a kiss on his head. “I could never forgive myself if something happens to you out there. You come first, above the race, above everything.”

Magnus let go of Alec’s hand and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him against him and holding on tightly.

“Thank you Alexander,” he whispered.

The door opening drew them apart, back to opposite ends of the couch.

Robert stood, framed by the doorway, Maryse just behind him. “Everything okay boys?” he asked, jovially.

Maryse pushed passed Robert as she came into the room and pulled up a chair to the nearby conference table, “Join us boys, we have a few things we need to discuss.”

While she didn’t sound as happy as her husband, she wasn’t cold or dismissive as she had been when Alec had phoned her to let her know that Magnus was not going to make the practise sessions.

“Right, so,” she began as they were all seated, her husband on her left and Alec and Magnus opposite them, secretly holding hands under the table, Alec determined to give Magnus as much of his support as possible.

“So, we have struck a huge deal with The Clave and they have decided to update our insignia and fire suits and in return for wearing some new advertising, they will pay for a grand party in Singapore at the Marina Bay Sands Complex. It will be an Idris event and we will have total control over the guest list...imagine who we can invite!” she laughed as she finished speaking and then passed over sheets of logos and insignia for them to check.

“No, Mrs Lightwood,” Magnus said, pointing at a couple of the pictures on his sheet. “I won’t be wearing either of these logos I’m afraid.”

Maryse looked at the logos he was indicating and frowned. “And why exactly not, Magnus?” she asked, bite in her voice. “These are two of the highest paying ones.”

“They’re known to be anti-gay, homophobic and transphobic companies. I won’t wear insignia for places that don’t support my rights.” he said keeping eye contact with her. 

“But those are huge companies, Magnus, surely you understand how business works? These are the brands that the Clave want us to showcase, so these are the ones we will be using.”

Magnus stared at her, a serious expression fixed on his face. Alec’s mother stared straight back.

“Not even Asmodeus would have made me go against what I believe, so I won’t do it here.” Magnus said firmly.

“Fine,” Robert cut in, breaking their eye contact, “Then Alec can wear those, alone.”

“No way, dad! You know I’m gay. There’s no way I’m going to wear their logos either. You’ll have to choose the others.” He said, frowning at his father and squeezing Magnus’ hand tightly below the table. 

For a few seconds, Robert stared at his son. It felt like he had x-ray vision and could see Alec’s hand clutching Magnus’ desperately. But then he looked away, and took a deep breath.

“Fine. Then no one wears them.” He said, leaping to his feet and throwing the papers on the table. “Have your own bloody way. Whatever they want Maryse. Use the other fucking logos. I’m not going to fight about this. They’ve got a race to get ready for. So, come on boys. We need another 1-2 today. We have to claw back some points in the constructors championship, you scored Team Edom too many points when you were over there Magnus,” It was clear he was trying to restrain his annoyance but a little leaked out as he spoke.

Then he marched over to the door and wrenched it open, disappearing down the steps.

Maryse gave them one last glare, then picked up her mobile and dialled, indicating that they should leave.

They did, and when they were finally down in the garage, they headed over to Isabelle and Simon.

“What was that all about?” she asked, as she fiddled with something on Magnus’ tire. “Why’d dad leave here looking furious again? He didn’t even stop to check out the modification I made to these tires,” she sighed sadly.

Simon twisted his arm around her and gave her a kiss, “Come on Iz, you know your dad. I almost get crushed by a car, he wants to know when it’ll be fixed not whether I’m okay…”

“I know...that idiot. He could have lost his best mechanic…” she started, but stopped as her bottom lip began to wobble thinking about Simon’s near miss. 

“It’s okay, Iz,” Alec said, stepping towards her and pulling them both into his arms for a hug.

“Come here,” he said roughly, pulling Magnus into the huddle too.

Having so many arms around her, settled Izzy down and when they all pulled away, they each had wet lash lines.

“Magnus had to stand up to mum and dad about some sponsors we were being asked to advertise.” Alec said then, so proud of how Magnus had handled things when it had been such a difficult month for him already.

“You’re amazing Magnus,” Izzy smiled through her tears. “But, I’d say Alec’s already told you that right?” she giggled. 

“He might have, once or twice,” Magnus smiled, holding out his hand for Alec to lace their fingers together. 

Simon laughed too, happy to see Izzy smiling again, “Well, at least today, we have been through enough torment already, so you guys had better go sort that one-two, so Izzy and I can enjoy that enormous jacuzzi in our hotel room!”

“Simon!” Izzy growled, hitting his chest gently, “My little brother doesn’t need to know that!” 

“I’m pretty sure his room has one too...right Alec?” he asked with a wink.

“I plead the fifth,” Alec replied, cheeks heating up as he moved away to his locker. 

“My room’s not that plush, I haven’t got one...” he heard Magnus complain.

“Maybe a little birdie knows you two only sleep in one room and didn’t want to pay for two!” Izzy giggled.

\-----

Hodge came into the garage about an hour before it was time to race. They hadn’t seen him all morning, and Alec had even rung him, frantic, when Izzy had lost an important wrench that she needed.

But there had been no answer. And now he sauntered in as if he had no cares in the world. 

It made Alec’s blood boil. 

“Hodge,” he yelled as the blonde man stepped inside, “Where the hell have you been? I’ve called you several times!”

“You did?” Hodge asked, with genuine surprise, “My phone didn’t ring. I was out with Queeny from Team Seelie, she was helping me sort out a problem I was having with one of the new brake pads. She’s a genius with the damn things!”

“You really didn’t see my missed calls?” Alec asked him as Hodge came closer.

“No, Alec, or I would have answered of course.” He frowned, “Don’t you trust me?”

“You know I do, Hodge...it’s just it’s been really stressful and there’s a lot going on and I just thought you were ignoring us...I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologise. Remember what I told you about the last race, when Asmodeus came to see me? I am your friend and colleague first and above all else. No one can stop that!”

“I know, Hodge, I do trust you,” He pulled his friend in for a hug and then Hodge went over to join Isabelle and Simon with the cars.

“What was that about my father?” Magnus asked, sneaking up beside Alec, a frown on his face. 

“Let’s sit down, I was going to tell you when you got back yesterday, but after qualifying I don’t think there was any chance of you listening carefully, you were so exhausted.” Then he pulled Magnus onto the sofa furthest from the cars and let his arm drop over his shoulder.

It wasn’t a long conversation, but it was important. He told Magnus everything. How Hodge had been visited by Asmodeus after the last race and been offered a place with Team Edom. That Asmodeus had tried to blackmail him by threatening to talk about the race fixing by Valentine and how he would implicate Alec, but how Hodge had stayed strong and insisted there was no evidence to support that and that he would not be leaving the team.

“Your father left pretty angry,” Alec said, sighing against Magnus’ shoulder. “Why can’t things ever be easy? Your dad, my parents, Valentine. Everything’s a mess!”

“Not everything,” Magnus whispered then, “Apparently, you’ve got a nice big jacuzzi bath tub in your room, big enough for both of us to enjoy?!”

“Magnus!” 

\------

They waited patiently for the flag to drop. The Italian Grand Prix was crazy. So many women wearing tiny amounts of clothing had been let onto the track to drape themselves over cars before the start, that it was now looking like they would be slightly delayed. 

Over the comms, Hodge announced a five minute delay, and Alec groaned. But then Magnus’ voice perked him up as he said, “Not that the view of the lady with the beachball breasts wasn’t great,” his pause and tone saying it had NOT been great, “I think one of you needs to come check my nose cone wasn’t dislodged, so five minutes is excellent for us!”

Alec had to chuckle. To be perfectly honest, seeing so many scantily clad women had made his heart pound a little faster. He knew Magnus was bisexual, but he’d already told Alec he was a one-soul at a time kind of guy and that Alec was that soul right now. However, that much naked flesh could be enough to distract anyone, so hearing that he had not really enjoyed it made his heart lighter. 

He himself was surrounded by men in tight fitting fire suits every race, yet with Magnus near, his own eyes never strayed either, he had never met anyone who could hold a candle to him. 

He hopped out of his car, lightly, wanting to give him legs a little more exercise if they were due to start later. Underhill was nearby and he indicated for him to watch the car, while he jogged over to Magnus’. 

As he arrived, Hodge did too with his full kit hung across his back. “Gentlemen,” he smiled, “Give me a few minutes and you’ll be ready to start!”

Alec offered Magnus a hand and he also jumped out, the two of them peeling away to take a circuit and stretch their legs. 

Behind Magnus, was Meliorn, so they slid by to say hello, keeping the appropriate distance apart from one another. Meliorn smiled as they approached, “Magnus,” he laughed, “Seen anything you like?” 

“Meliorn! You know I don’t see people as pieces of meat...and nor should you, I don’t judge attraction on one quick viewing...I like to at least argue with my crushes first and check they have some personality!” He laughed, catching Alec’s eye with a grin. 

Alec smiled back, then turned to Meliorn, “Fantastic qualifying the other day! You almost got us!”

“I know...I was a little disappointed...but you have Isabelle. And she is the best. No-one can compete with her designs and I endeavour to support her with them as much as I can.”

Alec nodded in agreement, Meliorn and Isabelle had been inseparable before she met Simon, and he still held a torch for her. “But don’t hold back on Izzy’s behalf Meliorn! You know I want to be beaten by the best!”

“And, look Alexander, darling,” Magnus said, smiling, “You’re in pole position...so I guess you must be the best!”

Alec laughed and gave Magnus a grin back, eyes catching on his for longer than he should have and then Meliorn was looking between the two of them, a smile of his own curving his mouth. “Oh, is it like that Bane?” he asked, eyes lighting up.

“None of yours, Meliorn,” Magnus replied and then gave him a final smile before the pair moved on to speak to Vampiros (Raphael) Santiago, and old friend from their early Formula 3 days.

\------

When the start was announced, they looped back to their cars, having successfully avoided the Morgenstern’s and Asmodeus who had been out on the track yelling at some official or other.

They stopped mid-way between them both and then Alec held out his hand…

Their handshake was complicated. They had devised it right when they had first agreed to be friends and developed after the last race where they had won. 

Alec was aware of the TV crew zeroing in on them as they finished with a flourish, then he gave Magnus a final smile and turned away to bounce into his car.

As he was handed the steering wheel, he felt the familiar thrill run up his back and then the ice cold calmness that his mother had instilled in him as a child.

The lights changed colour. The race began.

\------

The race felt pretty good at first. The only bad moment was Meliorn stealing second from Magnus on a tricky bend.

But Isabelle sorted that with a speedy pit stop that had Magnus roaring out just ahead of Meliorn in second once more. 

Alec’s own pit stop was unremarkable, except that when he finally picked up speed again, back in first place, he could hear a whirring noise above the din of the engine.

He radioed in and Izzy said they would check the footage of the stop and also review every mechanism remotely, and to drive sensibly for now.

At first it was okay, but then Alec began to feel a tug on the wheel as though there were a problem with the steering or the hydraulics. He began to lose vital seconds, Hodge calling in with his lap times.

He knew that soon, Magnus would catch up and pass him and that Meliorn would not be far behind.

Then came his father’s voice on the open comm, the one he and Magnus could both hear.

“Magnus, protect Alec. He has to win today, we need the constructors points, do not pass him, do not let Meliorn near. No more dodgy maneuvers on corners. Meliorn cannot get through. Understand?”

Alec gasped above the clunks of his engine. No way could his dad demand that. He was still ahead in the driver’s league and even if he got zero points today, he would still have a chance. He wasn’t going to let Magnus do this. 

He opened the private driver’s link that he and Jace had had Izzy install against their father’s wishes, “Magnus?” he asked. Then waited.

“Yes, Alexander?” Magnus’ voice was smooth, no hint of tension, no hint that he was flying around a track at almost 250 miles per hour, or that he had just been told that he wasn’t allowed to win today.

“Don’t do it. Don’t listen to my dad. There’s something wrong with my car and I’m going to slow you down too much. It’ll be risky for you to have to hold Meliorn off all that time if I can’t pick up speed again. You take the win. I’ll deal with my father!”

“My darling, Alexander,” Magnus said, sounding cheerful still, “I’m not going to do that. Firstly, Robert signs my paychecks and he has just given me a direct order. Secondly, you deserve to win today. So together, we will make you win! Plus, you know you let me win in Belgium...you can’t deny it, so I owe you!”

“Magnus!” Alec huffed out, but their line was interrupted by Isabelle, shrieking about a part that may have come loose and how he could handle the steering better and try to pick up speed.

He listened carefully, continuing to fly around the track, hitting the last 3 laps. Then he saw Magnus in his rearview. His car was streaks ahead of the one behind it and he was driving tactically, keeping up his speed, then slowing to give Alec time to move ahead. 

It almost broke Alec’s heart to see, but he knew Magnus had made up his mind, so he would have to take advantage of the chance he had given him. 

He followed Izzy’s instructions and managed to limp his car through the last three laps, Magnus protecting him the whole way.

When he took the chequered flag, closely followed by Magnus, he hit his steering wheel, disappointment flooding him. It should have been Magnus’ victory today.

He made it back to the garage after a quick victory lap, where he allowed Magnus to wave and smile at the crowd and inch slightly ahead of him as though he had taken the win. 

When they docked in the garage, Izzy and Simon helped them out and then Alec turned away to head straight for his locker, refusing any hugs of celebration. Ignoring even Isabelle. 

His fist hit the locker down with a loud metallic clang. It seemed to echo around the garage, sounding like the sound of his hollow victory. 

He slunk away to the changing cubicle and wasn’t at all surprised when Magnus pushed in after him.

“I know Alec. I know,” he said, reaching out for him. But Alec couldn’t touch him. He felt so guilty, so dirty, so spoiled. 

“I can’t….I’m so mad...at me, at you, at my dad, at it all. I didn’t deserve that. I don’t want it Magnus!” he shouted, unable to control himself. 

Magnus gave him a sad smile and then, watching for his reaction, raised his arms towards him again, pulling him against his chest when he didn’t move away. 

They held each other close for a long time. Until Isabelle banged on the door and said they needed to get over to the podium. 

Magnus released him reluctantly and then pressed a soft kiss to his mouth.

“It’s okay, Alexander,” he whispered. “It happens. Now please, we both kicked ass today and I want to celebrate with you, even if it’s not exactly what you imagined! Come and celebrate my incredible driving! And yours - you kept that car together for much longer than Izzy thought you could! She didn’t think you’d even limp it over the line…”

“How do you know that?” Alec asked staring at him in surprise.

“She told me,” Magnus said, tapping his ear.

“Oh...well if that’s true, I suppose I can’t be so angry. But I’m giving you that trophy, Magnus. It’s yours!”

\-----

On the podium, he did just that, even with his mother standing nearby with a sour expression on her face, he still handed the larger trophy to Magnus and then pulled him up on the top tier with him to the roars of the crowd who clearly understood exactly what Magnus had sacrificed. 

Meliorn took his chance to smirk at the pair of them, before Alec wrapped an arm around him and pulled him on top too, covering them all in champagne! It was a repeat of their last race, but this time it should have been Magnus’ victory. 

The frown on his mother’s face was nothing compared to the truly evil look he received from Asmodeus as they moved down to allow the constructor’s trophies to be awarded.

The black expression pierced through him and it was hard to look away. But then he heard Magnus’ musical laugh and managed to drag his eyes towards him where he was drinking leftover champagne straight from his golden trophy.

When they finally made it back to the garage, after signing _a lot_ of autographs (and unsurprisingly after the start of the race, quite a lot of bare chests) they handed their trophies to Isabelle and Simon. 

“For our heroes!” they announced, collapsing on the couch, sticky with the dry champagne. 

“You could have brought us some champagne instead!” Simon complained, eyes bright with happiness at their victory.

“I arranged for there to be one right by your jacuzzi bath, Si!” Alec admitted, grinning at him, “Just in case you were going to use that later!”  
Simon and Izzy high fived each other and then began to lock down the garage for the night. Meanwhile, Alec and Magnus made their way to the lockers and collected their things.

“How about our bath?” Magnus asked, “Is there one waiting for us too?”

“There might be…” Alec confirmed, swooping down for a kiss, “Mmmm, you taste yummy!”

\------

Back at the hotel, they didn’t even pretend that Magnus would be going to his room, instead making their way straight to Alec’s.

They were both still disgustingly sticky, so they each had a quick shower while the other checked in with Jace and Cat.

It was embarrassingly quick, because they both knew exactly where they wanted to be. 

Alec started to fill the bath, adding a good amount of bubbles and then turning on the jets when the water was high enough.

He called for Magnus, who came in clutching a bottle of champagne and two filled glasses, each with a strawberry inside.

“Oh! You found my surprise!” Alec said, smile splitting his lips.

“It wasn’t very hard to find Alexander...it was right there in the fridge!” Magnus smiled back.

Then he stepped forward and offered him a glass, “What shall we toast to?”

“To us?” Alec said immediately.

“To us!” Magnus agreed, clinking their glasses together and taking a sip. 

It was cold and bubbly and tasted delicious. He set the bottle on the side of the bath and then both his and Alec’s glasses, and then he reached for Alec himself, pulling him close and taking his time to press soft kisses across his clean skin.

“Alexander Lightwood, you are my favourite person in the whole world, do you know that?” he asked him, his voice honest and open.

“You’re mine too,” Alec admitted, voice hitching as Magnus found a sensitive spot on his neck. His tongue attacked it for a while, sending all sorts of shivers through Alec, who could only cling on to Magnus as his knees grew weak. 

“Enough,” he said softly, pushing Magnus away, whose face had begun to drop, thinking Alec had had enough of him. Alec noticed immediately and pulled him back to his chest, staring into his startled brown eyes, “Not enough of you, Magnus! Enough of waiting! I want...I want everything with you...so can we start here?” he asked, reaching out to untie the knot that held his towel up.

Magnus watched, eyes travelling the path of Alec’s towel, smile twisting into a huge grin, teeth and all, as Alec revealed himself.

“Yes please!” Magnus said, reaching for his own towel and dropping it too. He revelled in the hungry look in Alec’s eyes and then he pulled him close, skin to skin.

“You feel so amazing, Magnus,” Alec whimpered as his hands curled over Magnus’ back and then dropped to stroke his ass. 

“You too,” Magnus panted against his neck, his own hands taking the same path. “Let’s get in and we can be slippery and wet together!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really enjoying writing this one!!
> 
> Hope you enjoy reading it!
> 
> @ClaireyCookey on Twitter


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